


The Sons & Daughters of Draconis

by VioletPoppy



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bikers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Biker Gang, Cheating, Drama & Romance, Fluff and Smut, Heartbreak, Protective Natsu Dragneel, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletPoppy/pseuds/VioletPoppy
Summary: In the sleepy city of Magnolia, an infamous, outlaw biker gang named Draconis rules over the shadows.Lucy once called this network of criminals her family, but a broken heart led her back to the straight and narrow. However no matter how  hard she works to move forward, her past is never far away, as the protection of past flames never actually abandoned her side.Natsu begins to give up hope that he will ever win back the love of his life, but a drastic Draconis tragedy may mean that past sins are forced to be forgotten.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Laxus Dreyar/Mirajane Strauss, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia/Loke, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 36
Kudos: 164





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, a new fic as I got a bit of writer's block with Once A Sinner.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and it proves to have some modicum of sense! Apologies if any of the biker chat is incorrect.
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

Lucy's eyes were heavy with the need to crash in bed as she waved goodbye from her front door to the ginger man leaving her house for the evening.

His name was Loke, and was a colleague of hers. Tonight he had taken her out for a drink after work, and it had gone surprisingly smoothly.

The pair both worked as English teachers for Magnolia High, and Loke had been the guy assigned to show her around when she had first started about a year and a half ago.

Originally, she thought he was a suave, jackass. He laid on the moves almost instantly, and his constant flirting left a sour taste in her mouth.

However as time went on, as she witnessed the strong bonds he made with his students, she had begun to see the softer side of him.

One day they were monitoring the lunchroom together, and he tried yet again to persuade her to spend the evening with him.

Instead of shooting him instantly down, she mulled the situation over; she hadn't dated in a while (or ever, not _properly_ , anyway) and suddenly she thought, to hell with it, it was time she had a bit of fun.

Accepting his offer had shocked the man into spluttering over his mug of coffee, but regaining composure he had smiled from ear to ear, promising her she wouldn’t regret it.

All in all, the evening was perfectly pleasant, and after he walked her home she even threw caution to the wind and invited him in for a nightcap.

That’s where her gumption ended however, making sure the night never expanded beyond that final drink.

Lucy just didn't fancy the school gossips noticing them coming to work together, plus she wasn't ready for being with someone that way.

Not after how she had been hurt in the past.

Returning her attention to the present, she smiled softly, and waved once more to the man before turning to close the door, ensuring she locked it tight.

Wading through the fuzziness bought on by the exhaustion of a day wrangling teenagers in school halls followed by Loke’s company, she padded softly though her cosy living room to the stairs.

Lucy's house was small, nothing too elaborate. Her living room was decorated with art she had collected from her friends and yard sales, and posters of her favourite books were framed along one wall. Her oak floorboards were covered by a slightly battered Persian rug, and her sofa, much like all her furniture, was from goodwill, but she had managed to spice it up with some colourful throws.

In the corner sat a recliner that an old friend of hers had salvaged from the street for her when she first moved in.

As she walked past it and stroked the head rest, she laughed softly under breath at the memory. She and that friend had cuddled up on the chair watching horror films off her laptop propped on a box that night.

Thinking about that still made her stomach flip.

She shook her head and carried on walking, determined not to give in to the siren song of the comfy recliner. She approached the door to the stairs in the corner of the room and swung it open, pulling herself up the banister until she reached the sparse landing which homed one slightly droopy looking houseplant and a large bookcase along the furthest wall, full of novels, and covered in fairy lights.

She shuffled to her bedroom door and yanked it open, propelling herself from the door frame to land on her squishy, cloud of a bed.

Lucy's bedroom was also modest in size, decorated with white walls covered in satin and silk drapes, dried flowers and hundreds of photographs. Her bed was backed against the left wall, facing out into the middle of the room, with piles of books littered around it. Tucked under a window to the right of her bed was a long, thin writing desk; an item of furniture bought to inspire her to write her own novel, but just ended up buried under lesson planning and marking.

Sprawled out on her mattress, she wriggled about pulling all her clothes off bar her navy, lace knickers and swung them at the furthest wall.

The garments slapped against her inbuilt wardrobe door which was fitted opposite the end of her bed, and slid to the ground.

The velocity of the clothes made the photos stuck to the adjacent wall flap in the air, one of them falling down and gliding over to her bed. She rolled over on to her front and poked her head over the edge of the bed frame to see which memory it contained.

Her stomach flipped once more, as she looked at the picture of herself posing on a vintage motorcycle, the same old friend she had thought of earlier, propping her up with their arm around her waist.

"Ugh, nope. No, Lucy. Not tonight. Nadda. No. Thank. You," she scolded herself, trying to shake the ghosts of old feelings away as she climbed under her covers.

She forced her eyes closed and tried to focus on all the nice things Loke had said to her that night instead. After tossing and turning, she eventually drifted off to the haven of sleep.

A couple of hours later, Lucy was startled from her sleep by a sharp screeching noise. She sat bolt upright in a hazy panic, trying to analyse where the sound was coming from.

After a jumbled few seconds she realised it was the sound of her kitchen window being shimmied upwards from her back yard. She frowned, and gripped tightly at her duvet, pulling it up across her chest as she chewed on her lip and waited for more sound.

Soon enough she heard the crash of something falling off of her kitchen countertop, and whilst a paranoid voice in the back of her head cried to grab the nearest blunt object, her rationale said to hold tight.

This situation was, once upon a time, the norm.

Sure enough, she soon heard the familiar sound of two very particular bickering voices float up the stairs. She collapsed back into her bed with a huff and rolled her eyes, looking at her alarm clock as her lids drooped heavy with sleep once more.

It was 3am. She had to be up for work in three hours.

Part of her wanted to head down the stairs to see what the hell was going on, but the more practical part of her decided not to get involved.

Whatever _those_ two imbeciles were up to, she'd leave them to it. She knew she was safe with them crashing around her house anyway.

At 6am on the dot, Lucy's alarm sounded and she rolled over with a groan, her golden hair a bird's nest after a disturbed, fitful sleep during her final couple of hours in bed. Her dreams plagued by memories of a life gone by, triggered by the sounds made from last night's visitors.

She slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, the covers pooling around her waist to reveal her bare chest. She swung her legs out of bed and had to stop herself from all but collapsing on the floor and crawling out of her room.

As she stood up she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Her hair may have been a mess but she stood and admired the rest of her body, skimming her fingers across a small tattoo on her hip bone.

It was just a small, sentimental thing she got when she was younger, an outline of a dragon with big elegant wings and a curly tail.

Lucy only had a couple of tattoos; the others being the map of her favourite constellation, Aquarius, on the left side of her rib cage, and then a small insignia of a fairy with a tail on her right hand that she got due to losing a bet. She stretched out her hand to inspect it, hypnotised by a daze of memories as she walked to her bedroom door, almost forgetting she had visitors downstairs and couldn't just stroll around half naked.

Scrambling to close the door with wide eyes, she ran to her wardrobe and pulled out the first baggy tee she could find that would pass as a nightdress, then carried on her pilgrimage towards the kitchen for her morning coffee.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she didn't wait to turn the corner to double check who it would be crashed out in her living room.

There was only one person who had the audacity to break into her house, and only one of that person's friends stupid enough to join them.

"Wake up, bozos, I've got work!" She shouted in a snarky voice as she reached the final step, "Get up, get up, get up!"

As she stepped into her living room she was met by a series of grunts and groans. Rolling her eyes, she paced to the sofa and stared down at the lump residing there, flicking it in the forehead.

"Wake up, Natsu!" She urged, before grabbing a pink scatter cushion that had been pushed to the floor, spinning on her heels and playfully throwing it at the figure curled up on her recliner, "You too, Gray!"

This just inspired more groans from the two men, as they rolled around stretching their limbs, very slowly waking up.

Lucy shook her head and watched them for a second with a gentle smile on her face. These two morons were, technically, her oldest friends.

They also happened to be members of the original chapter of one of the most infamous outlaw motorcycle clubs in Fiore: Draconis. Natsu was the Vice President, and Gray was one of the loyal Enforcers.

Both a year older than her, they had taken her under their wing when she was a lost kid, and they had taught her a lot about the real world by sharing with her their rag tag upbringing amongst bikers and brawls.

However over the last couple of years, she had grown distant from the two of them.

Looking down at Gray she smirked as she took in his messed up raven hair, chuckling slightly at the pile of clothes next to him on the floor.

The man had a habit of stripping right down when drunk, and apparently last night was no exception. She was thankful for the orange woolly throw he'd acquired from the sofa to curl up in. He finally cracked an eye open and softly smiled at her, rubbing his hand down his face and resting it on his chest, his fingers subconsciously tracing the outline of the big silver cross necklace that he was never seen without.

Turning to the side she inspected the other man, Natsu.

He was stretched out across the whole sofa, thankfully still fully clothed, in a white slim fit tee and some oil covered boot-cut jeans. His messy pink hair jauntily stuck out at all angles, and his tan skin a stark contrast to his bright top. He had placed his infamous leather waistcoat carefully over his midriff as a blanket. He loved that jacket; it was his badge of honour, his club colours.

She noticed him twitching his sock covered toes, so she trailed her eyes back up to his face. Probably her favourite face on the planet, not that she would ever admit that to him. Not anymore.

The outlaw was graced with a sharp jawline and chiseled features, which were made to appear all the more dangerous by a scar on his right cheek. His lips were plump and always looked so soft, even though she was certain he never gave them any TLC.

His eyes were a dark onyx, which always glistened with unspoken emotions. His ears were pierced in multiple places, and his tattoo of a grim reaper’s scythe which was placed on his neck to look like it was slicing yet another scar he bore, was poking out of his collar.

She knew that under his t-shirt he only had one more inked illustration: the Draconis club logo across his back.

As she studied him, she widened her eyes in embarrassment slightly, as she realised how long she must have actually been staring.

Meeting his gaze again, she watched as his brain slowly woke up; it was as if she could visibly see the cogs in his head turning. He went on to look her up and down, then widened his own eyes as he looked at her midriff.

Lucy looked down at herself puzzled, but quickly clocked on to what had him fixated. She was wearing one of his old metal t-shirts that he had haphazardly left lying around her place from a time when Natsu pretty much lived with her.

Natsu's dumbfounded stare quickly shifted into a smirk with a raised eyebrow as he tried to mask his muddled reaction from the blonde in front of him.

"Morning, Luce," he crooned with a gravelly voice still thick with sleep.

Lucy just shifted in her spot awkwardly before turning to look back at Gray, placing her hand on his head and messing up his dark hair with an over the top sense of playfulness in a desperate attempt to distract herself from how much she was being affected by the man behind her.

"Breakfast time!" She sang, rubbing her hand down the brunette’s face and stepped toward the kitchen.

Gray scowled slightly as he pushed her hand away and flattened his hair back down.  
Sitting up straight he called after her, "Let me just get dressed and I'll be with you, Lucy."

"I'm gonna take a piss," Natsu shared nonchalantly as he shuffled onto his feet and towards the stairs.

Lucy shrugged and stepped through an open arch in the living room into her small kitchen. She skipped over to the coffee machine and flicked it on before grabbing some eggs and heading to the stove.

As she planned what she was going to concoct for three of them, she couldn't help but let out a loud yawn.

"That was big'un Lucy, what did you get up to last night?" Gray teased as he bobbed into the room and headed to the small wooden dining table in the centre of it, where he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Lucy turned to look at him with a smile and started to reply before she noticed the odd look on his face.

"Nothing much of inter- What?" She raised her eyebrow at him and followed his gaze.

On the back of one of her dining table chairs hung a jacket; a light khaki green jacket that was very obviously a man's. Her mind ran back to the night before, Loke had been wearing it under his coat and must have left it behind.

"Fuck," she declared simply.

Lucy and Gray's eyes met and they communicated a silent panic to one another. They both knew this breakfast would not end well if Natsu found out there had been a man here.

Gray quickly dived over to the chair to grab it but a voice startled him from behind.

"Mmmm Luce, smells good already! This might mean I forgive you for having us up so early!" Natsu padded into the room running a hand through his hair with a lazy grin on his face.

Gray tripped over his own feet in surprise, launching himself forward and in turn sending the chair and the jacket skidding across the room. Lucy stood there in disbelief, face palming hard.

"What the fuck, ice breath? Why you destroying Luce's things?" Natsu scowled as he stepped over to his friend to help him up, pausing for a moment as he then looked past the dishevelled Gray on the floor, and to the green jacket.

Lucy quickly turned back round to the eggs in the pan and started stirring them frantically, praying to every deity possible that her old friend didn't catch on.

"What's this, Luce?" Natsu asked carefully, his voice lowering marginally to a more dangerous tone.

Lucy stiffened slightly, of course him not clocking on would be too much to ask for.

She tried to look over her shoulder nonchalantly and shrug, "A jacket?"

"I see _that,_ but whose is it?" Natsu questioned as he picked up the offending garment, holding it high for her to see and unabashedly giving it a sniff.

She flipped back around to the stove and grabbed some spices off the rack, but she could still feel his eyes boring into her.

"How do you know it's not mine?" She attempted to tease back.

"Because it's clearly 10 sizes too big, and reeks of shitty, drugstore aftershave," his voice had become more clipped now, clearly frustrated at the way she was avoiding looking at him.

He quickly stalked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, flipping her round from the stove, and holding the jacket up to her even closer. She avoided looking at him and instead let her eyes fall to Gray, who was still sitting on the kitchen floor shooting her an apologetic stare.

When she finally looked at the biker in front of her, she noticed Natsu’s scowl was breaking into something more pained.

"You don't have to lie to me, Luce," he half whispered, grabbing her chin, forcing her to look deep into his eyes.

She nodded back to him with sincerity and explained, "It's a guy's from work. We went for a drink last night."

There was a short pause, and then Natsu cleared his throat, nodding.

"I see," he stated as he lowered his gaze, letting go of Lucy and turning round to throw the jacket on the back of another chair, "did you have a good night?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure if this was a trap or not, but replied anyway, "It was ok, nothing crazy, but at the same time it was, well, y'know, _nothing crazy."_

"Crazy is fun," Natsu snorted as he took a seat in a chair with his back facing to her, "I remember when you went out of your way to _find_ crazy."

Across the room, Gray had finally gotten himself up from the floor and went to pour them all coffee. As he bought the mugs to the table he sat across from Natsu and gave his old friend an exasperated look.

"We never had to look too far with your particular brand of psycho haunting our asses," he jibed in an attempt to ease the tension in the room.

"Fuck off, snowflake. You have more mental issues than anyone I've ever met. Luce, you heard that he's turned down Juvia, _again_? Just let down your igloo walls, man," Natsu taunted back, taking a sip of his coffee smugly.

Lucy raised an eyebrow as she grabbed some plates from a top cupboard, thankful that Natsu didn't seem to want to pry any further about her date, but still on edge about how well he was taking the news.

Their history together was, for the lack of a better word, complex. Grateful for the change in conversation however, she joined in to lecture Gray.

"You two are obviously perfect for each other, Gray. I wish you'd stop this dance of yours. You could give up the strippers, the groupies, and the risk of STDs for some good ol' fashion love, hmm?" she joked in a motherly fashion.

"Exactly!" Natsu agreed enthusiastically and pointed at his friend across the table with his mug of coffee.

Gray cocked his eyebrow in annoyance and mumbled under his breath, "Like you two can fucking talk."

Lucy pretended she didn't hear him as she clattered some glasses together loudly, taking them and a carton of orange juice to the table.

Natsu just shot him his most deadly scowl.

Gray smirked at how he had managed to get under their skin and sat in content silence.

Eventually Lucy placed their breakfast omelettes in front of them all and took her own seat, "Don't be expecting this treatment again guys, you're only getting the five star breakfast because I needed to use up all the eggs."

Gray rolled his eyes, "You have a different excuse every time Lucy, you know you just love spoiling us really."

Natsu mumbled in agreement as he shovelled a load of eggs into his mouth and chugged half his glass of orange juice all at once.

Gray stared at him in mock disgust, "Gross, flamebrain."

"The only thing that's gross Gray, is probably my recliner. You're going to have to pay to get that thing fumigated now it's had your sweaty balls all over it," Lucy teased in defense of Natsu.

"Hey now! Don't discriminate! I know for a fact _my_ sweaty balls aren't the only ones that chair has seen!" Gray snapped back as he made a pointed nod to the man across the table from him.

Natsu choked on his food and struggled to keep his composure, whilst Lucy went rigid and a shot the brunette a warning glare.

How he thought that was an appropriate comment considering the morning’s events, she did not know.

The thing was, Lucy and Natsu had once been inseparable...

Having suffered a traumatic childhood, Lucy had ran away from her home at the age of 14.

With nothing but a backpack full of essentials and memories, teamed with a wad of cash that she had stolen from her dad's wallet, she hopped on the first train to the furthest city from home: Magnolia.

To say she struggled to get by was an understatement, and at first had to brave a series of cold nights on the streets.

One morning she was attempting to sleep on a park bench, when she was hassled by another homeless man rather rudely propositioning her for sex.

The guy wouldn’t take no for an answer, so she got up to leave. As she rose, the man grabbed her and a scuffle ensued which involved her gifting the man a swift kick to the balls in order to escape.

As she ran she didn't look where she was going and collided straight into another stranger. She began to panic thinking it was a friend of the previous man, and fell to the floor in a heap. Then, two big callused hands reached down to the sides of her arms and pulled her back to her feet.

Somehow, the feeling of those hands actually calmed her, and as she looked up she swore she instantly fell in love, if that were even possible.

Natsu's onyx eyes were the ones staring down at her, a concerned gaze pinching his eyebrows together as she struggled to catch her breath in his arms.

Suddenly, the voice of her attacker was heard from behind them, shouting about how Lucy was a no good whore alongside a whole host of other sexist insults.

Lucy visibly flinched at the sound, and she swore she heard the pink haired kid in front of her growl as he pushed her behind himself defensively.

Before the vagrant could even react, Natsu stormed forward and knocked him clean out with one punch.

Lucy was stunned, and as the pair of them stood over the attacker, staring at his still frame, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be scared of the second stranger or not.

"How did you know I didn't know him?" She had asked softly after a small while.

"Would it have mattered if you did? You were obviously scared," Natsu muttered back, looking the girl up and down from the corner of his eyes.

Lucy just nodded her head in reply.

"The name's Natsu," he had said matter of factly, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

Lucy grabbed it with her own small hand, and melted into his touch.

That handshake marked the beginning of their adventure. From there he asked her what she was doing on the streets, listened intently to her story, and decided to take her back to his family who were all members of Draconis.

The two of them became the best of friends. They did everything together; ate the same meals, took the same classes, watched the same movies, and when Natsu finally joined Draconis MC as an official member on his 18th birthday, she followed him to the club everyday too.

As the years grew on, so did their feelings.

It was obvious to everyone around them that they were soul mates, but the pair never officially discussed it between them. They just did whatever felt right, and sure enough that had evolved into them being more intimate.

They began to share the same bed at night, and discovered they could kiss each other with fierce passion, but also delicately hold each other tenderly through the bad times.

They were each other's firsts in every sense of that term, and most believed they'd be each other's only in everything too.

It was when Natsu stepped up to be Vice President of the club that things went awry.

Natsu was the son of the chapter’s President, Igneel, so moving up the ranks had been a natural trajectory for him. The new role meant he had to become a lot more involved in the dangerous, and illegal jobs though; often having to actually source and organise them. The club mainly dealt with weapons, but there was the odd dabble into drug smuggling too.

As Natsu descended deeper into the underworld, Lucy had decided that she wanted to help and inspire children in a way that she wished someone had for her. She started studying to become a teacher.

Between Lucy's long nights in the library, and Natsu's long nights on the road, they started seeing each other less and became slightly distant. It pained both of them, but it started becoming drastically clear, that their two dreams couldn't intertwine.

Lucy could never achieve her goals to forge young minds if her partner in crime was literally, _in crime_.

So the arguments started, the hurt began.

They couldn't understand why the one couldn't accept the other's wishes. More nights apart happened, even when they were both home in Magnolia.

Then one night, Natsu did something that he would never forgive himself for. The power of the club had gone to his head.

Being the VP meant there was a constant stream of groupies hanging around him; women that had watched too many movies, who wanted their own slice of a real "bad boy."

After a particularly hurtful argument with Lucy, he had stormed out of her house and straight to the club, downed too many whiskies at the bar and found himself tempted into making some terrible decisions.

He let a couple of women lead him back to his room above the club and he indulged in everything he knew he shouldn't, in an attempt to lose himself in a feeling that wasn’t the gut wrenching reality that he wasn't good enough for the love of his life anymore.

He never meant Lucy to find out, and he definitely never meant for her to walk in on them. However the blonde beauty had turned up to the club to apologise, to tell Natsu that really, she never wanted to be without him no matter what.

Or so she thought.

As she entered the building, she misunderstood the way in which everyone in the club house had tried to stop her from going upstairs to Natsu's room. She had assumed it was just because they thought the man was in one of his infamously destructive bad moods due to their fight. She thought by pushing past their friends and climbing the stairs to his room she could fix it.

She soon realised that was not to be the case.

She would never forget the sight of her love being buried inside of some other woman on their hands and knees, with another draped around his shoulders littering his bare chest and neck with kisses.

She would never forget the feeling of wanting to simultaneously vomit and murder everyone in the room, or forget the looks of pity everyone sat in the club gave her as she stormed through the building in a daze.

She would never forget the pain in Natsu's voice as he called after her in desperation, falling over his feet, tears brimming in his eyes.

No. There was no forgetting that.

Whatever Lucy and Natsu were, it ended that night.

They didn't talk for weeks. Lucy ignored all his phone calls, slammed her front door in his face countless times, and cried herself to sleep over photos of him. She didn't stop by the club to see her old friends either, and felt too hurt to even look at them when they tried to come visit her. In her mixed up mind, they let him make that stupid decision, they all watched as Natsu destroyed everything the couple had. She decided she didn't have time for them anymore.

For the next four months she just threw herself into her studies, and lined up a graduate placement at Magnolia High for her current position. By that point she had successfully managed to ignore Natsu and the club for what felt like an eternity, but she had never felt so isolated and alone.

It was at her graduation, when everyone turned up unannounced to watch her collect her diploma that she cracked. Seeing them there as a collective, Lucy knew she needed them, they were her family.

Even Natsu.

Yet another thing she would never forget, was the proud smile that beamed from her old love as he watched her climb from the stage, diploma in hand.

Before she knew it, her feet had whisked her through the crowd and she was engulfed by Natsu’s embrace once again.

That reunion was the event which bought them to the stage of their relationship that they were at now.

They never rekindled what they had before that disastrous night, but they slowly became friends again.

Natsu respected Lucy's boundaries, and understood that she would lose her job if anyone found out she hung around with a bunch of outlaws. Therefore he made it known that if anyone was to ever visit her house, it would be without the colours on, or their heads would be on a stake. He also accepted how she would rarely come to the clubhouse to visit, and if she did then it would involve him being on his most upstanding behaviour.

The man would do anything she asked if it meant they didn't go back to not talking. Those were the worst months of his life, and still to this day, he was reminded every time he looked at her, that he would always love her.

For that reason, drunk Natsu still b-lined it to Lucy's house on the odd occasion, and _that_ was why they all sat around the kitchen table in her house that morning.

As well as the reason he wanted to pound Gray's head into a pulp for his last comment about the recliner.

"I best get in the shower and ready for work," Lucy said to break the tension, snapping everyone back to the present, "you guys might want to get yourselves off?"

Natsu broke his glare from Gray and looked to the angelic blonde next to him with a smile, "Sure thing, Luce."

"School breaks up for the spring this weekend, maybe I'll come visit you guys at the bar on Friday? Celebrate the start of my week of freedom by slamming some of Mira's best tequila?" She asked hopefully, trying to relay how much she was actually enjoying having their company, despite the early hour and the awkward situation.

Natsu's brows pinched and he dropped his head to stare at the table, "We're actually away this weekend Luce, club business."

"Oh... _Dangerous_ club business?" She pried with a hint of concern.

Gray went to open his mouth to reply, but Natsu butted in first, " _Just_ , club business..."

"Gotcha," Lucy nodded, then stood up to clear the table, nibbling at her bottom lip.

"Yeah, we gotta get sorted today to head off tomorrow evening, so probably is best we go now, hey?" Gray offered, sensing Lucy's unease.

There was a long pause.

"Of course, I'll see you out," Lucy eventually responded whilst forcing a smile.

After Lucy dumped the plates by the sink, the three of them walked back out to her living room and towards her front door.

Gray smiled softly at the back of her head and grabbed her wrist to capture her attention.

"Thanks for having us Lucy, I'll let you off for the class of the fellow clientele," he jeered, nodding his head towards Natsu, who rolled his eyes back at him.

"Hmm, I'm sorry about that ruffian, but glad you don't hold it against me. Cause you love me, hey?" Lucy teased with a devilish smirk.

Gray chuckled tenderly and leaned in to grab the back of her head and kiss her hair, "Like a sister, girly."

Lucy smiled back, eyes full of nervous adoration, smacking his shoulder as she replied, "Like a brother, boyo."

Gray nodded as he let his hand fall to her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze, before making his way to her front door and opening it wide, pausing for Natsu to say his goodbyes.

"Stay safe, Natsu," Lucy's words almost sounded like a warning as she padded over to the man.

He stared back down at her with a sly grin as he replied cockily, "No promises."

She took a few more steps and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly, curling her body into his and whispering in to his ear, "Just make it back, ok?"

"As long as you're here waiting, I'll always be back, Luce," he whispered back, nuzzling his nose into her hair and taking in her scent, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing her as hard as he could without hurting her.

They stayed like that for a second too long, leaving Gray to cough awkwardly from the doorway.

Natsu pulled back but kept his hands on her waist and the lower half of his body close to hers. He peered down his nose at the girl and smirked before messing up her hair with his hand.

"Shots are on you when we get back," he chuckled and turned to walk out the door abruptly.

"Deal," Lucy nodded, a little taken back by Natsu’s mood swings, and walked towards her front porch to watch the two men leave.

They both sauntered down her driveway, cradling their leather jackets, inside out, close to their chests, so no one could affiliate the club colours with her house.

As she gazed after them she tried to decipher the emotions within her. Was she sad? Was she happy? Was she worried?

She couldn't tell.

She just knew that despite everything she was glad that that pink haired man was in her life, in one way or another.


	2. Chapter 2

As Natsu and Gray walked down the street in the early morning light, Gray noticed Natsu was frowning to himself, deep in thought.

"Think this is far enough away from Lucy's now? It's fucking cold this early in the morning," Gray moaned, trying to pull the VP from his inner demons.

Famously, Gray actually ran so cold that chilly temperatures never bothered him.

Natsu turned to face Gray slowly, taking a minute to register what he said before mumbling a reply, "Sure, go ahead."

Gray narrowed his eyes at his old friend as he swung his jacket back on. He didn't like how distant the man was suddenly being, or that he didn't just take the bait to berate him about his body temperature.

"You ok, man?" He pried warily.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Natsu replied absentmindedly as he shucked his own jacket on and crossed his arms behind his head, staring up at the morning sun as he walked.

Gray grimaced a little, not knowing how to approach the situation, before deciding that fuck it, he may as well just rip the plaster off.

"This was always going to happen, y'know?" He began.

Natsu frowned and eyed his friend suspiciously, "What was?"

"Lucy starting to date," Gray replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

There was a long pause and Natsu stuffed his hands into his pockets, kicking an empty soda can as he walked, and tried to look anywhere but at his friend.

"Yeah," he just muttered quietly in reply.

Gray quickly realised this conversation was going to go know where. He was at least expecting a barrage of swear words telling him it was none of his business, but Natsu’s despondence was even worse. There was no point dragging out the pain.

"You best have your club house keys on you, man, I don't fancy standing outside all morning waiting for Mira," he said, offering Natsu an olive branch in the form of a change of topic.

Natsu just scoffed and pulled out the chain around his neck from under his tee, "You know they're literally attached to me at all times, but you're mad if you think Mira isn't already there. I think she literally eat, sleeps and craps behind that bar."

"Hopefully, it's not where she fucks Laxus too," Gray grimaced.

"I have literally seen that guy's bare ass fucking her over that bar more times than I care to admit,” Natsu winced.

"Gross. Anyone would think you run a clubhouse full of hooligans, bro," Gray laughed clapping his comrade across the back.

Natsu chuckled and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicking one between his lips and raised an eyebrow, "I'm not the one that runs it though, am I? Igneel would have you for that."

"You'll be completely running it all, one day man. You know your dad wants to hand it over to you," Gray replied.

"Hopefully not anytime too soon though, hey brother?" Natsu mulled, lifting his lighter up to his face and igniting his cigarette.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, both smoking and watching the world go by, the walk being a good half hour on foot. It had seemed a lot quicker the night before whilst fueled by whiskey and beers.

Gray sensed that Natsu was overthinking the whole time, but didn't want to overstep his mark.

Despite him and the man growing up together to be best friends, Natsu was still Gray’s VP, and when his friend was feeling unstable enough, he wouldn't shy away from pulling rank.

As they approached the gates to the lot that the club owned, they noticed the lights were on in the main clubhouse.

"Told you Mira would be here," Natsu chuckled, his amusement not actually reaching his eyes.

"If she's getting laid out by Laxus right now I will be pissed," Gray groaned, trying to make his friend actually laugh.

Natsu just shrugged and kept walking through the lot which was peppered with rusty cars and bits of scrap.

  
By day, the club operated a successful auto-repairs workshop as a front for their shadier business.

It was the founding members who had bought the walled off industrial compound and developed the corrugated iron buildings on it to act as garages for the auto-repairs business, and to house their bikes. They had gone on to build the clubhouse smack bang in the middle of these buildings, next to where they created the workshop’s public office.

As the years went on, the lot developed more and more, all new members being trained as mechanics or technicians of some kind.

As Natsu approached the entry of the clubhouse, he swung the door open and stepped warily into the dark, wooden clad room that acted as a rec room for members.

His aim was to try and avoid too much contact with Mira in that moment. The beautiful, silver-haired housekeeper had a sixth sense when it came to drama, and if she caught wind of even an ounce of the angst he was feeling in regards to Lucy, it would be game over.

Keeping his head down, he made a b-line past old oak bar that lined the right side of the room, and manoeuvred through the maze of beat up tables, chairs, and sofas that were dotted around haphazardly for members to relax on. He just had to make it past the pool table at the end of the room, and he would be at the door which led to the stairs to his living quarters.

"Oh! Morning, guys!" Mira's sing song voice chimed out as she stepped through the doors from the kitchen behind the bar, "Didn't expect to see you here so early, where did you get off to?"

Natsu winced and carried on walking, daring not to look back, causing Mira’s normally glowing face to frown.

The woman didn't like being ignored, and even Igneel never dared disrespect her. She managed the housekeeping at the club house for a reason; she could keep everything and every _one_ in order.

The members were pretty sure she was the devil in disguise as a sweetheart.

Before she could pounce on the pink haired delinquent, Gray sat himself down at the bar and tapped his knuckles on it to get her attention. She turned to him with a venomous look in her eyes, which softened when she saw Gray's pleading stares as he shook his head.

Once they heard Natsu’s feet pounding up the stairs, he spoke quietly in explanation, "We were at Lucy's."

Mira's eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh... was this an invited visit, or was it from through the window?” She asked.

"The window," Gray quipped, as if that clarified a whole host of things.

"Ah..." Mira nodded, "Was she ok?"

"She was more than ok, made us breakfast, joked around. It's getting more and more like old times. Except..." Gray trailed off with a sigh.

"Except..." Mira urged him on.

Gray collapsed across the bar face down and banged his head on the wood a couple of times.

"She had a guy over..." He finally spat out.

"Oh, fuck. Do I need to call Rogue?!" Mira panicked.

Gray bolted up, "No, no! He wasn't actually there when we got there. He just left his jacket and Natsu found out. He wasn't spending the night, Jesus. You would have got the call to find Rogue a whole lot sooner if he was."

Rogue was one of the MC's nomads, infamous for clearing up messes. He worked in the shadows and could make pretty much anything disappear.

"Well that's a plus. Imagine if you had walked in on them! Ugh! Although, if you ask me, Natsu would totally deserve it. Eye for an eye and all that,” Mira confessed,

"Dibs on not being there when that debt is repaid,” Gray snorted, before groaning with tiredness and resting his head back on the bar.

"Coffee, hun?" Mira cooed.

"Yes please. Intravenously if possible," Gray mumbled into the hardwood and closed his eyes.

* * *

Up in his room, Natsu laid on his bed staring into space, surrounded by all his mess. He wasn't the cleanest of people, and without a particular woman in his life keeping him in check, things often got out of hand.

The room wasn't too small, but not massive. It was originally created for members to bunk out after long jobs, but Natsu found himself in there the most, and he eventually gained de facto ownership of it.

In the centre of the space was the double bed, with two mismatching wooden bedside tables either side. One of them home to a desk lamp and the pile of crud that he pulled out of his pockets every day. The other to a few framed photographs: one of him on his dad's shoulders as a kid, one of the founding 9 members of Draconis Magnolia chapter posing with their bikes, and one of him, Lucy and Gray.

The picture captured Natsu with his arms around Lucy's waist holding up her as she bent over double laughing at something, Gray stepping towards the camera with his hand out in a grump, and himself smiling from ear to ear with pure happiness, leaning down towards the girl in his arms.

He remembered that right after that shot was taken, he hauled her back up and bent her around so he could kiss her square on the lips, feeling her laughter against his mouth.

He longed to be able to do that again.

He climbed off the bed with a sigh, and waded through the debris on his floor. It consisted of dirty clothes, empty beer bottles, food packets, and ripped up condom wrappers leftover from the selection of women he bedded in an attempt to drown the need in his heart.

All of them random, but all of them blonde.

He stood over the desk in the corner of his room and opened up a bashed up tin box that housed all of his memories.

Folded up on top was the black and white scarf his dad gave him that had belonged to his grandad, the founding member of Draconis MC. Below it lay a whole host of other treasures: keys to his first bike, the wristband from the first time a club fight ended up with him needing stitches in the hospital, the cork to the bottle of champagne he had stolen for Lucy the day she graduated high school, a feather from the side of the road from his first big run...

He kept rummaging until he found the items he wanted, grabbing the two things within separate hands.

The first was a silver signet ring with a dragon emblem on it. Lucy had bought him the piece for his 21st birthday, accompanied by a speech about how he was her dragon. How he plucked her from the streets all those years ago, and had guarded her for the rest of his life like a treasure. How she knew she could rely on him to always give her strength.

His body shuddered, closing his eyes in a grimace, as he remembered how much he really had hurt her, making her feel weak and meaningless like he did that night.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, looking down at his other hand.

In it he held a polaroid photo that still made his body stiff with need. It was of a topless Lucy, lying on his bed with her hair fanned out around her like golden silk, her rosy nipples pert on top of the perfect mounds that were her breasts. Her eyes were closed with a smile so soft that it didn't part her plump, pink lips, but it still tugged slightly at the corners of her radiant face. Her hands were pulling down the top of her skirt on one hip, revealing the small tattoo she had gotten just for him; the exact dragon design on his signet ring, claiming that it was his mark on her.

He remembered telling her he had to take a photo, because he wanted to capture how beautiful she was to him in that moment, how he wanted her to see what he saw every day.

Once he was done with the camera, he had thrown it to the side and pulled her close. They went on to make deep, intense love. Clinging and moulding to each other in a desperate need, inhaling each other's devotion for one another in a way that he had never been able to recreate with others.

He closed his eyes again in pain, before growling under his breath in frustration and throwing the ring against the wall in a small fit of rage.

It was one stupid mistake, they were both young and they were going to make them, but they both threw all of that love away, because of one stupid, goddamn night. He knew he couldn't blame Lucy for being angry with him, but he still found himself in disbelief that she let one night put a stop to years’ worth of companionship.

Staring at the picture once more, he groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

No, how could he even think like that. The girl had a whole host of demons that had taken her years to overcome, thanks to her shitty childhood. He was the one that had helped her work through them after all, he should have known better.

He replayed the story in his mind...

When Lucy was a young girl, her mother, Layla, had fallen severely ill. Her mother was the light of her life, and from the stories Lucy told Natsu, she sounded like an amazing woman. Beautiful, intelligent, funny - the whole package.

Jude, Lucy’s father, was being destroyed by slowly watching his love fade into nothingness however, and he turned to shitty coping mechanisms.

When Layla was moved into hospice care, and Lucy was left alone with her dad, these coping mechanisms got worse.

Lucy soon realised that the gin bottle was her dad's best friend, and the only thing that could capture his whole attention.

The brute went on to scream and hit Lucy, telling her to stay away from him as he hated that her face was so similar to her mother's. He even began to stay out late to avoid her, leaving a 10 year old Lucy to completely fend for herself.

One night, she woke up to the sound of his voice, and being so young was just happy to hear that he was home. She ran out of her room and straight into her parents', to find a sight that horrified her. Her father was naked in bed, having sex with a strange woman, betraying her mother who was lying in a bed across the city by herself, dying.

Jude had made sure to punish Lucy severely for witnessing his folly, and manipulated her into promising that she would never tell Layla. Lucy kept the secret to herself, and let it burn inside her as she said her final goodbyes to the woman she loved.

The next few years at home for her were rough, and she couldn't stand the constant replacement women her dad bought home, or the way he was drinking himself to an early grave.

To her, the women he bought home still made him a cheater, even though Layla was gone. He didn't deserve to have her die as his wife. Her mother deserved to go on living in the next life not tied to this monster.

It was this toxic environment that had driven her to running away all those years ago, and Natsu rationalized that her father's behaviour was why she never wanted to label whatever the two of them were to each other.

Perhaps she believed it would be another barrier against potential betrayal. However as the years had gone on, they hadn't needed to label themselves anyway.

Their instinct alone had meant they were devoted to each other to a fault, and everyone knew they belonged to one another.

Until that fuck, damn _night_.

No, he really, really couldn't blame Lucy. He had revealed himself to being no better than her abusive father, after making her believe otherwise for so long.

He deserved her rage.

Natsu was stirred from his spiralling thoughts by the voices of people downstairs. From the sounds of it, it was a load of the officers turning up for one of Mira's cure all breakfasts.

Placing the photo down on his desk, he headed to his ensuite to shower and shave before joining them.

Twenty minutes later he headed downstairs in a fresh, blue plaid shirt and his favourite pair of jeans, and he could hear the stirrings of a ruckus. He rolled his eyes.

A fight before 10am? Standard.

"Why the _fuck_ did you make Juvia cry again, hmm?" Came a deep growl.

"Back off lug nuts, it has nothing to fucking do with you!" Gray's voice snapped back, sounding slightly pained.

Natsu swung the door open and cocked his head at the sight before him. Another Enforcer, Gajeel, had Gray's arm twisted behind his back and his head slammed down on its side on the bar.

"It has everything to fucking do with me! She's my oldest friend! I would never have bought her here if I thought she would have ever lost her mind enough to fall for you, you piece of shit!" Gajeel snarled.

Gray wriggled in his grasp and went to fire back another retort, but someone in the room saw Natsu coming and gave them a warning cough.

Both men flipped their heads around to their VP and straightened themselves out, Gajeel's hand still lingering on Gray's shoulder.

"Let him go, Gajeel. You know you could snap him like a twig. And don't worry, I've had words with him about Juvia, too," Natsu sounded off calmly.

Gajeel nodded and went to move away, not before slapping Gray up the back of the head one last time for good measure.

"Way to have some faith in me, oh brother in arms," Gray muttered towards Natsu.

"The day you beat Gajeel in a fight, is the day I eat my own fuckin' dick, you walking brain freeze," Natsu warned, letting himself behind the bar to pour a mug full of coffee from the machine.

Gray rolled his eyes and watched carefully as Natsu turned to look around the room to see who had turned up.

There was Gray and Gajeel, obviously. Gajeel, being the strongest of the Enforcers, was a man who had killed more than once, and looked fierce enough to be a demon. He was covered in tattoos and piercings, and his thick long black hair hung down his back to his waist.

Then, there was Bickslow, probably the club's dopiest Enforcer, who sported a blue mohican and the most god awful face tattoo that was the result of a drunken bet, but was a loyal officer who had proven many a time he would get his hands dirty for the good of the club.

Next to Bicks, there was Cobra, the club's Treasurer, a short but well-built looking man with purple hair and one eye, sat reading a book. Looking at the guy you would never assume he was book smart, but the biker had an endlessly hungry brain, a knack for numbers, and a chemistry degree which came in handy for many unsavoury reasons. 

There were also a couple of prospects, Happy and Romeo, sat at the closest table watching the officers with fascination, and in the furthest corner, sat ignoring everyone's antics, were Metallicana and Makarov. The club's SGT. At Arms, and their Chaplain. Metallicana was Gajeel's dad, and resembled his son in many ways, and was also President Igneel's oldest friend. Aside from his Natsu, Metallicana was the only member of Draconis who Igneel claimed he fully trusted with his life.

Makarov, although a tiny looking old man, was one of the Founding 9. No one knew how old the fucker was, but he'd seen more than most in his lifetime. He apparently used to be a hell of a fighter, but now days was proud to be the figure that the club members could turn to in their times of need. He referred to them all as his children, even Igneel.

"Where's Laxus?" Natsu asked the crowd, "He got everything sorted for tomorrow?"

Laxus was the Road Captain, he oversaw all club runs and ensured that all members stuck to the rules and the plan when they were on the road. It was a tall order overseeing such a motley group, but his domineering presence meant he rarely failed.

"When I pulled in, Buzzcut was in the garage with Titania inspecting some bikes," Gajeel shrugged before continuing, "but what _I_ wanna know is where the _hell_ is Mira with our goddamn food?"

Natsu whistled, "You're a brave man, Gajeel."

"No, just stupid," Mira's sweet voice called out from behind him as she kicked the kitchen door open ferociously carrying trays of different breakfast foods for everyone to pick 'n' mix on to their plates, "and so for that you can get them in from the garage, Gaj."

Gajeel went to speak but clearly thought better of it, as he slid off his bar stool and lumbered out the front door, minutes later coming back with the two from outside in tow.

As Laxus stepped through the door he pretty much filled the whole frame up. His body was so thick with muscle it was a wonder how he didn't snap everything he touched in two.

Even Natsu had to admit he was an annoyingly good looking guy; chiselled features, blonde hair kept in a clean fade around the sides of his head but with a slicked back mop on top, and a facial scar that outdid Natsu's across one eye. He was wiping his hands on an oily rag, and ignored the bar full of food in favour of heading to the woman that prepared it.

Mira was his old lady, and he made it very clear he would kill for her if needs be.

Following quickly behind, was the woman Gajeel had referred to as Titania, her real name being Erza.

Erza Scarlett was an anomaly, and the missing piece to this puzzle.

In an act that went against all club traditions, and nearly got Igneel kicked out of his role as President of the chapter, she was the first - and _only_ \- woman member of Draconis MC.

The woman had been around the club since she was a kid, and had always scrapped like the best of them. She could ride a bike better than most of the male members, hold her own in any fight, and proved herself to be a useful mechanic. She wielded a gun with scary efficiency, and her good looks alone left most men quivering in her boots.

Possessing a slight, yet muscly build, a buxom chest and long ruby red hair, she was beautiful. No man in the club would deny it, but no man was stupid enough to proposition her either.

She was the same age as Natsu and Gray, and was another wayward soul that Igneel had taken under his wing.

After years of her begging, sulking, and destroying his things as punishment, Igneel had ran out of ways to say Erza couldn't join. He was never one for outdated customs anyway, and knew that the woman really would outperform most members in other chapters.

So he went for it, he allowed her to become a prospect.

Within a blink of an eye, the red headed she-wolf rose through the ranks. Her efficiency and smarts, combined with the respect she had commanded after years of having to prove herself to her male counterparts, meant she one day became the club's secretary. And by God, she did a damn good job of it, receiving recognition from members across the country. Igneel often got smug about how right he was to let her join.

As she approached the bar, she swatted away the hands of the guys to get her fair share, and placed herself on the last remaining bar stool at the end of the row. Natsu headed towards her in order to get filled in on the status of the upcoming run.

"Everything in order?" He inquired.

Erza looked up at him and stared into his eyes malevolently as she snapped a rash of bacon in her mouth, "You doubting my capabilities?"

"Jesus Erza, I don't think you should be comfortable talking to me that way," Natsu responded, whinging.

"Natsu, you might be my VP but you forget all the times I washed your piss stained bed sheets when we all first started getting drunk together. I'll talk to you how I want," Erza declared in a calm voice that was laced with threat.

Natsu let out a deep sigh and brushed his hand through his hair, looking up to the ceiling in indignation, "Can you please just answer my question?"

Erza smirked, happy she had got one over on her old friend, and finally gave in to his wishes.

"Yes, everything is in order. Laxus has a few last things to tinker out, but we are all set to head off tomorrow morning at 10pm."

"Thank you. Wasn't so hard, was it?" Natsu quipped sarcastically back.

Erza stuck out her tongue at him in a rare moment of childishness, causing Natsu to snort with laughter.

After the weird ass morning he had had, he needed this. Getting immersed in club shit.

These people around him, his family, they always cheered him up in the end.

"You have any idea when the Prez is getting in today?" Natsu asked the redhead.

Erza raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that your job to know?"

"When it comes to that man, fuck only knows," Natsu sighed.

Igneel came and went as he pleased, sometimes disappearing completely for days at a time, not even Natsu or Metallicana knowing where to.

Both Erza and Natsu's heads snapped to the side, as the sound of another fight breaking out caught their attention.

This time it was Laxus banging Gajeel and Gray's heads together, shouting at them to be more aware of their surroundings as they had knocked a cup of coffee over onto Mira's pristine floor.

Natsu folded his arms and chuckled, looking on happily at his peers, forgetting for a moment that his heart was broken in two.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *smut*

Finally, it was Friday, school had finished, and it was time to leave the classroom behind. Lucy was free for a whole week. Yes, she had a bucket load of grading and lesson planning to do, but there would be no 6am alarms, no breaking up fights in school corridors, no pulling gum out of kids' hair, and most importantly no having to stare at the principle's gross, flaking, bald head.

Humming a happy tune to herself as she packed her bag, she grabbed her phone and looked for any messages. None. She sighed, not knowing what she was hoping for.

Once upon a time, her phone would have been full of invites from pretty much everyone at Draconis with a different Friday night plan. She scrolled through her contacts, looking at all their names. If all the guy's were out on a run, that meant there'd be a good few of her old gal pals sat around waiting for them to get back. Maybe she should text one of them she surmised; see if they fancied a catch up.

"You alright there?" Came a smooth, deep voice from her classroom door, the suddenness making Lucy physically jump from her thoughts.

"Sorry Lucy! I didn't mean to make you jump!" The voice apologised.

She looked up to find Loke leaning against the door frame trying to hold back a chuckle.

She softened her pose, smiling back at him slightly embarrassed, "Ah, it's ok! Sorry Loke, you just caught me off guard."

"You seemed lost in thought, everything ok?" He asked with mild concern, pushing himself up from the door frame and stepping towards her.

Lucy felt a bit flustered, not knowing how to answer. She was pretty sure daydreaming about her old, outlaw biker friends wasn’t the reply the man was expecting.

"I was just trying to figure out what to do with my night, y'know... Nothing major," She tried to laugh it off nonchalantly, but managed to overdo it and instead came off slightly hysterical.

Loke raised an eyebrow, obviously confused by her odd behaviour.

"Well you might be in luck, as that's the very thing that has bought me to your classroom door. I wondered if you fancied dinner?" He went on to ask.

Lucy paused for a moment, feeling a strange unease in the pit of her stomach.

Dinner? A second date?

Her mind flashed back to Natsu's face two mornings ago, the way his expression bore down into her soul as he asked whose jacket was in her house, and the pain that he couldn't hide from his eyes.

She shook her head vehemently, trying to push the bad thoughts away.

"Oh? No? Ok..." She heard Loke say uncomfortably, and she suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Oh god, no! Sorry, I didn't mean to do that! Shake my head that is! I was thinking about something else! Ugh, never mind, I just sound crazy," Lucy rambled as her voice became riddled with further embarrassment.

She gave up and hid her face by looking at the floor, shoulders drooping.

After a short moment, a soft pair of fingertips placed themselves under Lucy's chin and pulled her head back up, she suddenly found herself gazing into Loke's eyes.

She studied him for a moment; he was the exact opposite of every other man she had known. He was well kept, his ginger hair was long and stuck out at funny angles, yes, but she could tell he looked after it and probably spent too long shaping it to look that right kind of messy. Not the matted, unwashed kind of messy she was accustomed to. He had a pointed face, and wore a pair of round hipster style glasses that made him seem all the more polished. His well tailored clothes were never covered in oil, beer or blood. He didn't smell of cigarette smoke or burnt rubber. He was just, normal.

A normal, non-crazy, perfectly legal man.

Who was now staring at her like she had a second head growing from her neck, as she realised she must have been ogling him for a long time.

"You have really pretty eyes," he finally said, obviously trying to make her feel more at ease and break the silence.

Lucy blushed, grateful for his ability to pull her out of a funk.

"Thank you," she mustered in reply.

"No problem, princess. Now is it a yes or no to dinner?" He smiled softly, his hand still in place under her chin.

"It's a yes," she nodded, and Loke smiled back at her, giving her cheek a quick stroke before removing his hand.

"I should be so lucky," he chuckled.

"Well, turns out you are, hey?" Lucy grinned, "I'm being serious, dinner it is!"

"Dinner it is?" Loke repeated, "Well, hurrah! How about, I pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds perfect!" She nodded, grabbing her things from her desk.

Loke then walked her out to her car, teasing out of her what kind of food she likes best so he knew where to surprise her with later.

* * *

Before Lucy was entirely ready, seven o'clock had arrived and she heard a soft wrap of knuckles at her front door, signifying Loke’s arrival. She had primped and preened herself within an inch of her life, and was still stressed she didn't look right. She and Natsu had never done _dates_ per se, he'd take her out and treat her from time to time, but she never worried about what she wore and how she came across. She wasn’t having to try to get to know the man. Plus Natsu made it pretty clear that he thought she was always sexy, even in her old granny PJs that came out when she was ill. Even her first date with Loke, was just drinks straight after work. There was no time to go home and worry about these things.

She sighed, banging her head against her reflection in the mirror, she had definitely overthought this. She was pulled out of her panic by the sounds of more knocking, and she decided she just had to get it over with.

Taking a step back, she inspected herself one last time.

She had tied her hair up in a messy, high ponytail. Tendrils of blonde pulled out to frame her face, teamed with some subtle makeup. She wore a light blue, polka dot wrap dress, that dipped down dangerously low on her large bosom, and cut off towards the middle of her thighs. The tie around her middle cinched in her waist and exaggerated her curves further. Overall, she felt the style of the dress in itself was adult, but the risque neckline also screamed, I'm a young, strong, sexy woman who knows what she wants.

Despite the fact, she had _no clue_ what she wanted.

Sighing she grabbed a leather jacket - one bare of patches - and some wedged heels from her bed, running down the stairs to open the door. Hopping across her living room floor, slipping on one shoe at a time, and grabbing her purse from the sofa, and shouted hoping Loke could hear her from the outside, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm coming!"

She swung the door open in a hurry, almost falling out of it, and was met with a wide eyed Loke, who burst out into a low chortle as he saw the flummoxed state she was in.

"Hey, hey! It's ok! I wasn't here long. I was just admiring how nice your front yard is actually. You plant all this yourself?" He asked.

Lucy's face wrinkled in confusion. What? Planting? Wasn't he supposed to say something about how drop dead gorgeous she looked in this moment? Looking out at the front yard, she looked at the flowerbeds that lined the house, remembering the day Natsu had taken her to the garden centre to pick whatever she wanted, and how Gray and Erza had stopped by with beers and BBQ food to help out.

"Erm, yeah? Well, some friends helped me, but I had the vision," she blurted out, still slightly out of breath from running down the stairs.

"Awesome," Loke smiled to himself, before finally turning around to take in the woman in front of him properly, "and wow, Lucy! You are a vision. That dress looks great on you!"

The devil residing in Lucy's brain smirked inwardly. _There_ it was, that Hollywood moment. She felt even smugger, when his eyes lingered on her chest for a second too long.

"Thank you Loke, you don't look too bad yourself!" She replied sweetly, nodding up and down at his outfit.

He donned some black skinny jeans and a white linen shirt, teaming the look with some brown boots.

"Ha! Thank you, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit lost getting dressed to go out without my khaki jacket. I think I must have left it here the other night?"

"Oh god! I kept forgetting to bring it back to you at work, did you want me to fetch it?" Lucy gasped before turning around to scurry back into the house, but before she could, she felt Loke's soft - never done manual labour a day in his life - hand curl around her wrist.

"No don't worry, it's really warm out," he said eyeing her thoughtfully, "I'll be back here later, right?"

Lucy blushed for a second, not missing the insinuation of that statement.

"Y-yeah, sure!" She replied, cursing at herself for stuttering, locking the door behind herself and following Loke to the car.

He took her to a Thai restaurant that sat on Magnolia's harbour, looking out to sea. Conversation flowed easily, as did the wine. She found herself laughing at his jokes, and managing to get in a few of her own witty barbs. There was no doubt in her mind, that she was enjoying herself. Feeling free and independent, sitting in the ocean air, the man in front of her not constantly looking over his shoulder for signs of trouble. She supposed this was what normality felt like, and she couldn't get enough.

"So you've talked a lot about school, and college, but not your actually family? Where do your parents live?" Loke asked, innocently enough.

Lucy's stomach dropped. She should have known normality wouldn't last long.

"Well... My actual parents, they're both, erm… Well, they’re dead..." she said, wincing sheepishly.

Loke's eyes widened in horror, "Oh, I'm so sorry! How inconsiderate of me to assu-"

"It's fine!" Lucy cut him off, reaching over to grab his hand reassuringly, "It's really fine. My mum died when I was 10 years old, and my dad well, he died when I was 18, not that he was really in my life anymore. The small chunk of money I got left from him, was what allowed me to buy my house by myself though. So I suppose that was his apology."

"His apology?" Loke looked confused.

"He was a shitty dad, no reason to beat around the bush. I ran away when I was 14, left my biological family, and found my logical one," she explained.

"Ahh, another literary reference, Tales of the City?" Loke smiled.

"Nothing gets past you, hey," Lucy scoffed.

"Nah, but I'm sorry to hear that though, Lucy. It makes it all the more amazing that you're the grounded person you are today. Running away at 14? That's the kind of thing we see happen to students, and they always end up in the wrong crowd," he mulled.

Lucy grimaced for a second, there was no denying that on paper, she also fell in with the wrong crowd. However, she wouldn't have had it any other way. The likes of Igneel and Makarov, they taught her so much about love and family within the club.

"So, your logical family? If you don't mind me asking, that is?" Loke pried further.

Lucy smiled softly, but lowered her gaze to the table, reaching for her glass of wine.

"They're here in Magnolia. I know they're there if I ever really need them,” was all she supplied.

"That's nice. My family, they all live in such far flung places, they may as well be in a different realm," he offered some information back to her.

She smiled back politely, and tried to shift the conversation away from her past. Eventually, the meal came to an end and Loke walked them back to his car. It was when standing up from the table that she realised she must have drank the majority of the bottle of wine, as she was feeling really rather tipsy, but Loke was still apparently sober enough to drive.

When they arrived at her house, the buzz of the wine had started to wear off, but she was still feeling the impact of its liquid courage.

"So, you coming in? For your _jacket._.." She probed as she climbed out of the car, a devilish smirk spreading subtley across her face.

Loke looked up from the driver's seat as he tried to digest the meaning of her words. His eyes ogled her, raking their way down from her face to her thighs, and back up to her chest. He was hypnotised, and would follow her inside just to gaze upon her even more.

"For my jacket," he nodded decisively.

As she unlocked the door and stepped into her living room, she felt Loke's presence close behind her, his breath fanning across the back of her neck.

"Take a seat," she said pointing to the sofa where they had sat chatting a few nights ago, "do you want another drink whilst you're here?"

Loke looked down at her, and didn't miss the glint in her eye, but he tested the waters, "I best not. Not if I’m driving home, hey?"

"I'm pretty sure one more won't hurt too much," she smirked as she stepped backwards towards her kitchen, keeping eye contact with him the whole time, "you can always stay a bit longer if you end up needing to rest it off."

His eyes lit up and the corner of his mouth curled up into a grin as he finally caught on to her intentions.

"Right. Another glass it is then."

He sat down on the sofa and kicked his shoes off to the side, breathing into his hand to check the smell of his breath as Lucy busied herself in the kitchen. When she reappeared, she seductively swayed her hips as she padded towards him, handing him his glass of wine as she bent down to sit next to him. She made the calculated decision to leave a small gap between them, but after she kicked off her own shoes, she curled her legs up beside her and shuffled her body around so she was facing him, and her knees were grazing against his thigh.

"Thank you for a lovely night, Loke," she hummed in appreciation.

The man turned in his seat to face her more and took a long gulp of his wine, "Well, the nights not over?"

Lucy's eyes glazed over for a second, as she felt heavy with both lust and nerves. This was the precipice she had been waiting to jump off of for so long; a new venture.

"No, it's not," she agreed.

She lifted a hand, and before she could stop herself, she started to delicately draw patterns with her finger on the guy's chest. He quietly laughed under his breath, and moved his free hand up to stroke her face, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. She paused the patterns, leaving her fingers lingering in place, and looked up into Loke's eyes. He too seemed to be riddled with the need to get closer to her, as he downed the rest of his wine and placed his glass on the floor, before gently coaxing Lucy's out of her own hand, and pulled her face closer to his. They paused for a moment, lips almost touching, before Lucy cracked a small smile. That was all the permission Loke needed, as he gently rubbed his nose against hers, and connected their lips together.

The kiss started off gentle, tender, both seemingly unsure of themselves. However it soon grew more and more heated. They were pulling at each other's clothes and hair, reeling themselves in as close as possible to each other, and succumbing to their attraction.

Lucy lost all control, it had been so damn long for her, and all her previous doubts and worries seemed stupid. _Fuck it_ , she thought, she was going to enjoy herself.

Pushing Loke back into his seat, she sat up and threw one of her legs over his lap, placing herself down onto his crotch. She could feel the bulge between his legs through their clothes, and it sent her even wilder. Before she knew what she was doing, she pushed herself down on to him and slowly, _very_ slowly, started to grind against him as she continued their kiss. A small moan escaped from Loke's mouth, as she applied more pressure to her movements and ran her hands through his hair.

"Lucy, you'll have to stop if you don't want this to go any further, you're driving me wild," he breathed heavily, cupping her face in his hands.

"I am definitely, _not_ stopping," she breathed back.

Loke's eyes widened for a second but then became hooded with desire, as he pulled her face back to his and carried on his assault on her lips. He felt Lucy's hands tug at the buttons on his shirt, and he let her pull the item of clothing apart, feeling less and less in control of himself as he felt her hands run up his bare chest. He went to untie the string of material holding her dress together, and watched in awe as she shimmied backwards to let him push the dress open and off her shoulders. The material pooled at her waist, revealing the best damn lacy, red lingerie set Loke had ever seen.

"Fuck," he gasped, as she shot him a seductive smirk and pulled herself back to his chest so their bare skin could touch.

"Let's go upstairs," Lucy whispered into his ear before nibbling his lobe.

She felt Loke nod in agreement, before grabbing her by the backs of her thighs and standing up with her still in place on his crotch. She giggled before wrapping her legs tightly around him.

Loke was sure he had died and gone to heaven.

After they climbed the stairs, still conjoined as Lucy sucked his neck and ears - which proved somewhat difficult, but Loke would never admit it - Lucy pointed to her bedroom door and he carried her through. Once they entered the room, Loke threw the woman in his arms down on to the bed gently, and climbed on top of her. Lucy pushed his shirt off his shoulders and began to work on his belt, Loke reached down to assist her, wanting all the clothes off his body as quickly as possible.

After shimmying out of his jeans, he got to work on Lucy's neck and breasts, biting her collarbone as he lowered his head to peel back the cups of her bra, letting her breasts bounce free. Lucy groaned and rolled her hips against him with more ferocity in reaction. He took her nipple into his mouth and started teasing her with his tongue, satisfied with the shudder she let out beneath him. She started pushing his head down, not interested in prolonging the intimate foreplay, this moment had been too distant from her for too long. She just needed to fuck someone.

Loke got the message, not entirely happy that he didn't get to indulge in teasing the bombshell beneath him all night, but if he was honest with himself, he also just wanted to get to the sex.

Diving his head down lower, he started kissing down her belly, then her hips, then started to pull down her underwear with his teeth. Lucy bucked up towards him, and he decided just to rip the lace off with his hands. He hovered over her core for a few seconds before gently stroking it with a finger, then lowered his mouth to her entrance and licked up slowly. Lucy was soaking wet, she really didn't need much coaxing, but feeling gentlemanly he carried on working his tongue against her core, delighting in the way she wriggled under mouth.

"Loke," Lucy breathed, "please, just fuck me."

Loke pulled his head up and cocked an eyebrow, "You don't want me to pleasure you?"

"It's not that, it just - ah," Lucy let out a small moan as Loke stroked her with his tongue once more for good measure, "it's just, I need to _feel_ you inside me. I need to feel something _new_. Just- just _fuck_ me."

Loke didn't need to be told twice, and heaved himself up to hover over her body. Lucy crashed his face to hers and kissed him with ferocity all over again, groaning as she tasted herself on his lips. She pulled his boxers off and Loke pinned her hips down with his hands to line himself into place, teasing her folds with his tip.

"We need a condom," she demanded, panting, and rolled over to her bedside draw to grab one before he could argue otherwise. She still had a stash in there from the days of Natsu. Tearing it open with her mouth, she pulled it out of its packaging and looked the man above her in the eyes, checking this was ok. He gave her a nod and she rolled it over his stiffened member. The friction from her hand alone made him whimper, and once she was done, he plunged himself straight into her core. They both moaned in unison, and started to grind against each other.

The whole thing was by far neither of their best performances; it was messy, and desperate. However Lucy didn't care, she just was happy she finally got to experience this with someone other than her old dragon. She'd heard the stories; she knew he was getting his end away at the drop of the hat, and she knew that she had starved herself from this connection for far too long, scared of how it would make her feel.

As Loke pounded against her, the sense of unease slowly grew within her though. She started to worry Natsu might climb in the window any minute, and discover her wrapped around another man. What would he do? Would he get angry and rip them apart, or worse, would he just accept it and move on? Lucy slammed her eyes shut and shook her head again, trying to rid the man from her head.

Loke paused, breathless.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, please, don't stop," Lucy urged.

He narrowed his eyes for a second, "Who do you think of, when you shake your head like that?"

Lucy's eyes widened.

"No- no one," she breathed, rolling her hips against him in an attempt to distract him.

Loke leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, holding himself up with his arms either side of her head, "Let them go, Lucy. Lose yourself in _this_ moment, right _here_."

Lucy stared at him for a second, before reaching up to stroke his face, "Then, don't _stop_."

Loke nodded, and slowly pulled out of her before ramming himself back in, deep and hard, rolling his hips as he pulled out again. He kept up this pace until she was shaking, close to her edge, scratching at his back. She was finally letting go, and not thinking about the ghosts from her past.

When they were both satisfied, Loke rolled off her and went to the bathroom to clean himself up. Lucy pulled herself under the covers, and rolled over onto her side. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion, from the physical and emotional roller coaster she had just been on. As she slowly drifted off, she noticed the photo that was still on her bedroom floor, of Natsu holding her on his bike. She smiled to herself fondly, falling asleep before Loke had even returned from the bathroom.

That night, Loke held her in her arms the entire time she slept. She couldn't lie and say it felt as good as it ever had with Natsu, but she admitted to herself that it was still nice.

Her dreams were littered with riding on the back of motorcycles, giggling whilst running from cops, and simple pleasures such as her first ever kiss. She then dreamt of the pain and the tears in those final days, and finally she dreamed of all the faces of everyone in Draconis. She felt a weird sensation tugging at her gut as she dreamed of Igneel looking down at her and stroking her head, telling her he was proud of her despite all the chaos.

In the early hours of the morning, she stirred awake, swearing she had heard the sound of motorcycles pulling up outside her house, but after shuffling under Loke's arms and waiting for more sound, she heard nothing. She decided it must have been all part of her dreams, and rolled back over.

Little did she know, that as she had lay there that night in the arms of Loke, some of the most earth shattering events known to Draconis Magnolia Chapter had taken place.


	4. Chapter 4

They had been set up.

Laxus swore viciously under his breath. How had he not seen that this route could be so easily ambushed? He struggled to retain control of his bike as he pulled his handgun from the holster under his jacket, and shot out blindly at the attacking party who were hidden in the shadows of the surrounding dilapidated factories.

DMCM had been on their way to oversee a shipment of cocaine they had previously stolen from the Alvarez Cartel to be sold to the Crocus mafia. Drugs weren't their preferred means of income, but whatever the boss ordered, the club delivered, having faith in Igneel’s decisions

What none of them had ever seen coming however, was that Alvarez and Crocus could be in bed together, setting them up.

As they had travelled down the back roads of an abandoned town, deserted when the recession killed off the factory work, they heard the first gunshots.

A sniper had aimed directly at Igneel from the darkness, and tore straight through the president's shoulder. The man barely let out a whimper, as he tightened his grip on his handlebars, and powered down the road aiming to reach the less built up area.

The rest of the club had looked on in disbelief, no one being able to register what had just happened.

Gray looked over to Natsu, to see his old friend bristling with fury, pulling out his gun from his jacket pocket, and readying himself for the fight. Gray followed suit, and quickly dared to glance at his boots, to check that his trusty hunting knife was still stashed there too.

What ensued was a bloody battle. Laxus was the one who had to take the executive decision demanding that all the officers dismounted from their bikes to run for cover in the abandoned buildings, as sniper fire rained down on them like they were sitting ducks.

He knew there was no point waiting for Igneel or Natsu to make the call, as they were both too hot-headed to know when to stop, and Metallicana had already dismounted and ran off to scout the closest building the minute the first shot landed, determined to find the culprits behind injuring his friend.

The blonde giant of a Road Captain hid behind the chase vehicle driven by the prospects, poking his head round the bumper and firing off a few shots upwards towards the factory roofs in a blind hope that he hit the invisible. Erza suddenly collapsed next to him, covered in dirt and sweat dripping down her brow. Laxus raised his eyebrow at her in concern.

"I'm fine," she snapped back, "but what the _fuck_ is going on?"

"I'm gonna assume this is Alvarez. Cunts actually managed to get one up on us, for once," Laxus growled.

"Shit! Me and Natsu had thought they might try and stop us on this run, but not quite this effectively," Erza banged the back of her head against the truck in frustration.

"It's my fault, I should have realised we'd be like sitting fucking ducks with all these buildings hovering over us. I was too concerned about picking abandoned routes to stay hidden from the fucking cops," Laxus hissed.

Another barrage of bullets tinkered across the other side of the truck, and both Laxus and Erza span to shoot back.

"Can you see Natsu and Igneel?" Erza asked as she fired.

"Fuck! No," Laxus spoke through gritted teeth.

All of a sudden he spotted Gray, jumping up over his bike and running at full speed, keeping low to the ground and weaving between the bullets. Gray may not have been as big as the likes of Gajeel and Bickslow, but that just meant he was fast, agile, and out of all them, probably the most cunning.

"Gray's bolting it, he must be going after them," Laxus relayed.

"I see him. _Fuck_ , I hope they're alright. Where are the prospects?" She asked genuinely concerned for the newbies’ safety.

"I pulled them out of the truck before I settled here, sent them packing to that warehouse over there to ring back to the club to let them know what was going on," Laxus assured, pointing in front of them to one of the only buildings on the left side of the road.

Eventually, there was a pause in the gunfire, and it was punctuated by a blood curdling scream. It sounded like it had come from Natsu. Both Erza and Laxus snapped to look at each other in distress.

"Fuck this!" Laxus snarled, "I'm heading out there!"

Erza nodded and followed suit, praying that her comrades were ok.

Moments earlier, further up the road, Gray had hunkered down behind his bike before he had gone on to witness the events unfold which Erza and Laxus didn't. The Alvarez Cartel were daring to come out of their hiding spaces, and there were many more of them than the club could have planned for. The cartel ensured their gunfire was thick, providing them with a cloak of defence.

Gray was doing the best job he could, to fulfil his duties as an Enforcer and watch over Natsu and Igneel as they shot at the factory buildings, picking off attackers one by one. Metallicana was nowhere to be seen, but he had to have faith that the man had probably already killed a good few men, and was way on his way to more.

As he rose from behind his bike to shoot off another round, his eyes widened as he saw Igneel get hit with another bullet, this time to the arm below his injured shoulder. Gray threw off his helmet so he could see around him better, and instinctively swung himself over his bike and ran towards the President to provide aid.

Igneel didn't stop though; sweat dripping from his forehead, his slicked back red hair coming loose and hanging down around his face, blood pouring from his body, the man let out a growl and kept shooting.

As Gray approached, he heard Natsu swearing at his dad, telling him to get the fuck down.

"Hey, man," Gray said as he grabbed Natsu's shoulder, "you know we're probably not getting out of here alive, don't you? There's too many of them."

Natsu growled and looked up at his dad who was still fighting.

"We wait until Igneel says,” was all the young Dragneel could respond.

Metallicana came running up to the three of them, sweating.

"Fuck, Ig. There's more of ‘em than I’ve ever seen clubbed together. They're really going gung-ho on our asses. I got as many as I could, but I'm low on bullets,” he snapped in mild distress.

Igneel snarled again, the bloodthirsty side to him that so few actually witnessed was completely in control.

"If we turn back they shoot us in the back of the head, Met."

"Get everyone in the back of the chase truck," Metallicana offered.

"We would have to ditch our bikes!" Igneel snapped.

"It's our bikes or our lives, Ig! Think of our goddamn, sons!" Metallicana growled back as he hit his old friend round the back of the head.

Gray and Natsu sat watching the whole exchange, and Natsu being as hot headed as ever, got himself in the middle of it.

"No! Don't just give up because you don’t think I’m strong enough!" Natsu shouted, before standing up and blasting the last few rounds of his gun up at the bikers descending a fire escape to the ground, not paying enough attention to his surroundings.

Igneel spun his head round to see where his son’s bullets landed, and his eyes widened, as he registered what was about to happen before anyone else.

From the roof of the biggest factory, a gun went off, and the bullet was headed straight for Natsu's head. Igneel broke free from where Metallicana had a grip on his shoulders and dived to move his son out of the way. Roaring at him to get down, he jumped through the air and blocked the bullet.

With his own skull.

Everything went at a snail's pace from there. Natsu landed on the ground, letting out a loud grunt as he was winded by the impact.

Gray's eyes widened as he screamed a whole host of curse words in a hoarse voice, desperately scrambling towards the two men across the ground.

Metallicana stayed deadly still, blinking in disbelief at what had just happened.

Natsu opened his eyes, trying to make sense of the heavy weight crushing him to the ground. He looked down his body, to see the most sickening sight he could ever imagine: his father's lifeless corpse, pinning him to the dirt, the back of the man's head blown off.

Natsu pulled his hand free and realised, he was covered in Igneel's blood and gristle.

The young VP thought he was going to be sick, and even though every nerve in his brain was shouting at him that his father was dead, he still pulled himself up from under the man, got onto his knees and rolled him over on to his lap, cradling his form.

He shook the man's body and started shouting like a kid.

"Dad... Dad! You stupid bastard! What the fuck... DAD!"

Metallicana finally snapped out of his trance, and dived towards Natsu, pushing the catatonic Gray out of the way. He tried to grab the young VP's shoulders to get his attention, Natsu just pushed him away.

"Natsu," the sergeant spoke calmly, "Natsu look at me. Natsu... Give the order."

Natsu just kept his eyes fixed on his father's face, and shook his head in shock.

Metallicana growled, losing patience with the desperateness of their situation, and slapped the young man’s scarred cheek.

"Give the fuck, damn order, kid!"

Natsu just looked up at the sergeant and became even more distressed by the disturbed look on the man's face. Metallicana was meant to be the monster of the group, he was ice cold, ruthless, and his expression was stoic no matter the situation. However in that moment, even he was cracking.

"Fall back," Natsu whispered, "get any injured or fallen in the back of the van. Throw out the fucking coke to make room. We've still picked the majority of them off, I'll use mine and Gray’s final bullets to give you all some time."

Metallicana grimaced, but nodded and scooped up Igneel's body from Natsu’s lap before darting back to the chase truck, signalling for everyone to follow him. Natsu stayed on his knees on the ground, and Gray placed his hand softly on his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving you, man," he whispered, trying not to let the crack in his voice appear too obvious.

Natsu nodded, before standing up and letting out the most anguished scream Gray had ever heard. It echoed off the metal factory walls and roared within his ears. He felt it penetrate his very bones, and goosebumps broke out across his skin. He watched in awe as Natsu grabbed his gun and fired mercilessly at the incoming bikers, who were now close enough for them to get proper shots in. Gray stood up to stand and shoot by his comrade's side, and watched as the band of Alvarez cunts struggled to react in time.

One by one they fell, those that lost their lives spinning to the ground and crashing into others.

All of a sudden, Erza and Laxus were by their side sharing out bullets, then Gajeel, Bickslow and Cobra, too.

All obviously ignoring the order to fall back, all too enraged by the sight of Igneel's limp body to want to do anything else but kill.

Guarded over by Gajeel, Cobra and Bickslow started siphoning petrol from one of the beat up motorbikes into some glass bottles they had scavenged from a pile outside one of the factories, and began ripping at their clothes, making Molotov cocktails.

As they lit the bottles and threw them up into the factory buildings, forcing the remaining Alvarez members out of their nest, Natsu and the others picked them off with gunfire. Together, this new generation of Draconis turned a dire situation around into their favour. Despite the change in fortune, no one celebrated.

Instead, all of them were trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Eventually the last man in the Alvarez entourage had fallen, and after waiting to see if anyone else was ready to ambush them for a while, Natsu threw his empty gun to the side, and put his hand out, signalling for someone to fill it with their fully loaded weapon.

Erza did the honours.

The VP stepped out from behind his and his father's mangled bikes, and slowly paced around the bodies on the floor, shooting every single one of them in the head for good measure.

His friends watched on, not sure whether they should have been feeling horrified or smug about the bloodbath he was creating from the stupid fuckers who thought they could outdo them.

When he was done, Natsu ran his blood covered hands through his hair, and stepped back to his team. He didn't raise his eyes to look at them once, and threw Erza's gun on the floor by her feet. He stepped towards the bikes that had been at the back of their formation and gave one of their tyres a kick, before turning the key to see if it still worked. When the machine roared into life, he climbed on without saying a single word and drove off in the direction of home.

The officers stood not knowing what to do for the best.

"You guys find yourselves some rides home, I'll go after him," Gray finally offered.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and off they went their separate ways.

It took Gray a few minutes to catch up with his old friend, but once he did he made sure to keep his distance. Natsu could be volatile at the best of times, but after watching his father die defending him, Gray didn't think there was a word on this planet that could describe the emotions the VP was probably going through. He kept up his duties though, making sure the man got home safe.

After an hour and a half ride, they hit Magnolia's city limits at about 2am. Natsu was still going at a ludicrously dangerous speed and Gray had no choice but to follow suit. As they reached the turn off to hit Magnolia's back roads towards the club, Natsu didn't take it. He kept riding into Magnolia, taking the turn off from the city ring road towards the suburbs.

Gray's eyes widened as he realised where Natsu was heading.

"Has he lost his fuck damn mind?!" He cursed under his breath, before automatically shaking his head in frustration.

Yes, all things considered, of course Natsu had lost his fuck damn mind.

Their bikes tore into the sleepy suburbs, full of picket fences and dreaming children, like chainsaws mowing through chipboard.

Natsu's speed finally decreased, but only slightly, as he manoeuvred the twisting roads and hamlets. Neighbourhood Watch be damned, he was being pulled to one street like a homing beacon.

As that street, Strawberry Street, _Lucy's_ street, loomed closer, Gray felt a lump in his stomach form. The Enforcer wasn’t sure if he wanted Lucy to be home, or if in this instance it really was better that she was spending her Friday night someplace else.

Natsu kept ploughing towards her address however, but thankfully a modicum of his common sense appeared to return as he slowed right down.

As they took the turning, Gray got the answer to his previous question.

Even from a distance, he saw a car pulled into Lucy's drive that he'd never seen before. At that point, he decided he really, _really_ wished she had been someplace else.

Natsu began to slow down even more until he reached a stop next to Lucy's driveway. He stood still straddling his bike, as Gray pulled up next to him. Neither of them moved for what felt like an age.

"Natsu?" Gray spoke quietly, as if not to spook him.

Natsu just remained looking at the stranger's car stoically, his breathing deep and laboured. Gray slowly climbed off his bike to reach out to his friend, but before he could, Natsu started up his bike again and sped off hiding his face. Gray _knew_ he had to have been crying.

"Fuck!" He snarled to himself and kicked at the grass on Lucy's front lawn, before spinning back to his bike to follow Natsu once again.

This time they were headed back to the club house, and Gray started to feel less on edge. He had been almost certain Natsu was going to have been arrested for murder had they actually stayed at Lucy's. At least at the clubhouse, the man could vent his rage amongst understanding peers.

When the two of them pulled into the compound, they both mentally took stock of the beat up chase truck and selection of bikes haphazardly dumped outside the club house entrance.

Natsu stormed through them all, still refusing to look back at Gray, who still kept himself a small distance from the raging inferno in front of him.

Natsu swung the club door open, and was greeted by everyone in side jumping in fright and anxiousness, before settling as their eyes fell on him.

The officers were still covered in blood and dirt and had their hands on their weapons, the prospects looked as pale as sheet, their shaking hands gripping at glasses of whiskey. Mira's eyes were puffy, red and glazed with tears as she hung off Juvia, the blue haired club singer that had stolen Gray's heart. In the corner, he saw Levy, Gajeel's tiny, sassy, bluenette girlfriend who manned the auto-repair reception desk, pouring cups of tea, sniffling away the tears that kept threatening to fall.

Lastly, he noted that Metallicana was not among them, but Makarov stood in the middle of the room, and looked at Natsu with eyes that bore into his very soul.

"My boy..." the old man began softly.

"Don't!" Natsu snarled, snapping his eyes to the ground and storming forward through the crowd, trying to hide the pain he wasn't supposed to let the club he helped lead see.

"Sit down, take a min-" Makarov tried to soothe, but the broken VP cut him off, spinning round on his heels, tears streaming down his face but his expression full of venom.

"I said... DON'T!" Natsu roared at the top of his lungs, before throwing his black bike helmet across the room smashing a picture frame on the wall.

The bar went silent as he continued to storm over to the door to the stairs so he could escape to his room. Swinging the wooden frame open, he slammed it behind him so hard the walls shook and a bottle fell from where it was precariously placed on the shelves behind the bar.

Makarov grimaced, before looking up to see Gray creeping from the shadows of the doorway.

The hush in the room was broken by another guttural sob from Mira, as she let go of Juvia and fell to the bar and filled up a glass of whiskey for herself with shaking hands. Laxus paced over to stand behind her and stroked her shoulders soothingly.

Juvia gingerly moved towards Gray in her skimpy, blue, camisole dress and leather jacket, grabbing his wrist to pull him properly into the room to be among the others. Before she could get him far, Gray spun her round so her face was in his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, burying his face in her voluminous blue hair. The girl stiffened in surprise, before rubbing her hands along the small of her crush's back as he jerked with silent sobs.

A few minutes went by like this, everyone frozen in states of despair, apart from Levy who handed out cups of warm tea to anyone who couldn't even face drinking their sorrows away.

"Shrimp, you don't gotta serve everyone. Just- just come here, ok?" Gajeel crooned softly as he pulled the tray of tea from Levy and placed it on the bar.

"I just want to help, Gaj," Levy gazed up into her love's eyes, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I know baby, I know. You don't gotta though. Just stop thinking for a minute," he whispered as he pulled her in for a hug.

"How can I not think? At a time like this? Someone has to, and I don’t mind it being me. You all need to feel. I'll think. I'll let everyone know. At least all the main gang are her right now. Except..." Levy's small voice trailed off as she tried to wriggle out of Gajeel's arms to look for her phone.

"Don't even think of mentioning who you were about to mention, Shrimp. Not right now…" Gajeel warned in a hushed tone.

He knew all too well that the deceptively troublesome girl in his grasp would only be thinking of a certain blonde. Levy just frowned and let her shoulders sag. Now wasn't the time to argue either, she supposed.

Erza's voice was the first to crack through everyone's dazed states, as she stepped into the middle of the room next to Makarov, and commanded everyone's attention.

"Is it only me that is worried that we can't hear a volley of destruction from the room above us? Natsu hasn't even smashed one thing. He is..." she paused as to find the right words, "He is painfully silent."

"Someone should check on him," Mira quietly agreed.

"No... Natsu knows we're here. He always comes to us, his family, when he needs us. If he has chosen to be on his own, he truly needs it. Let him have his time," Makarov responded with finality.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"He will get through this, we all will. We are strong, we have each other’s back. We are Draconis," Erza reminded everyone, "How was he on the way home Gray? Where did you go together?"

Gray bristled with discomfort, grimacing slightly as he felt all the eyes in the room landing on him. Juvia wrapped herself around his waist from behind and pushed her head under his arm to gaze up at him, he glanced down at her eyes and she nodded at him reassuringly.

"I don't think he'd want everyone to know," Gray simply supplied.

Erza narrowed her eyes, "What did he do, Gray?"

"Nothing bad, miraculously-" Gray rolled his eyes.

A small voice rescued Gray from Erza's oncoming interrogation.

"Does no one else, think... Think we should get Lucy?" Levy sputtered.

"Shrimp..." Gajeel sighed with frustration.

Gray winced, but spoke with certainty, "No."

Levy's eyes widened, "But if anyone could check on him, could reach out to him right now... You all know it would be her."

"Makarov said to give him his time..." Gray bit back with warning.

"But Gray-" Levy began to argue, puffing her cheeks and taking an angry step toward the raven haired enforcer.

He broke free from Juvia's grasp, and stood to match the tiny girl's glare.

"I said, no! Lucy is otherwise engaged right now, she will _not_ be coming!" Gray spat.

Levy's face scrunched up in a rage at his tone, before her eyes widened and she gasped at what Gray was insinuating.

Gears turned in the heads of everyone in the room, and slowly everyone put together where Natsu and Gray must have been earlier.

"Children, I think it's time we head to bed," Makarov suggested in an attempt to ease the friction, "this mess is only going to get worse if we stay up drinking and exhausting ourselves. I will keep an ear out for Natsu whilst I wait for Metallicana to return. Ok?"

There was grumbling from everyone in the room.

"I said, _ok_?!" Makarov scolded them.

"Ok," Erza nodded, and began to herd everyone out with her.

Once the room was empty, Makarov took his seat in the corner of the bar and lit a cigar. He stared at the photographs on the wall, and sighed as his eyes fell upon one of Igneel and his first bike.

"You really screwed it this time, kid," Makarov sighed as he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, crossing his feet on the table, "rest in peace, Igneel."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Lucy woke up feeling flustered. She was uncomfortably warm and felt strangely claustrophobic. There wasn't enough space in the bed for her to stretch out and it felt like there was a dead weight on top of her. She opened her eyes and suddenly remembered why, as a flash of ginger hair appeared in her peripheral.

"Ok..." Lucy breathed, not entirely sure if she was trying to reassure herself that this situation was completely fine or not.

The sound of her voice seemed to stir Loke, but it just resulted in him gripping her tighter to his naked chest.

"Urgh, not ok..." Lucy groaned in a whisper as she felt their clammy skin mould together, and began to wiggle herself free.

"Nope, not ok, not ok, not ok..." she chanted.

After struggling against Loke's deceptively strong arms a few moments longer, Lucy finally managed to free herself with such drastic force, that she rather ungracefully propelled herself onto the floor in a heap.

"Not. Ok." Lucy finally grimaced under her breath, as she rubbed the shoulder that took most of the impact.

"You say something?" Loke sleepily propped himself up on one elbow, slowly blinking his eyes awake, before widening them as he took in Lucy's bizarre state.

"What are you doing down there?"

Lucy turned bright red and rushed to pull the duvet partially off the bed to sort of cover herself up.

"I... fell?" She offered.

Loke just raised one eyebrow and chuckled, before swinging his legs off the other side of the bed and standing up to stretch. Lucy blushed even more as she took in the sight of his toned body and the sizeable semi that hung between his legs.

Loke turned to grab his boxers on the floor and caught her staring.

"Like what you see, princess?"

Lucy's eyes widened in embarrassment and she quickly pulled the rest of the duvet from off the bed so she could stand up and scuttle towards her dressing table chair, which still had Natsu's old shirt hanging from it.

Loke just stared in mild perplexity as the blonde minx from the night before transformed into a shrinking violet.

He pulled his boxers up and readjusted himself, wondering if perhaps the fact he woke up still turned on from being so near her was inappropriate. Though he hardly saw why, bearing in mind there was nothing much left to hide after the night before.

"Are you ok, Lucy?" He questioned, deciding it was best just to get whatever she was upset about out in the open.

As Lucy stared at the t-shirt in her hands, weighing up whether or not it was uncouth to shield herself in another man's clothes, she felt Loke placing his hand on the small of her back through the cushiony material wrapped around her.

"Hmm?" She asked sweetly trying to cover up the distance she had regressed to in her mind.

"I asked if you were ok, you're acting a bit... Erm..." Loke battled to find the least offensive way of saying, ‘strange’.

Lucy just sighed, and laughed to herself, looking up at the ceiling in defeat as she dropped the duvet and flung the t-shirt over her body.

"Sorry, I'm being weird aren't I?" She chuckled.

"I don't know, it's either weird or adorable, I'm yet to decide," Loke smiled softly and cocked his head to the side as if pondering.

Lucy cracked a smile, turning to face the man fully and placing her hands on his chest.

"It’s ok to say I'm weird, you wouldn't be the first person."

Loke wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer with a smirk.

“Well, whoever's said that is an idiot," he replied.

A flash of pink hair and a toothy grin shot to the forefront of Lucy's mind and she closed her eyes and shook her head, laughing at how Loke had no idea how true what he just said was.

"There you go again, shaking that head of yours. Do I have to make you forget all over again?" Loke purred, gripping her hips harder and pushing himself into her, the proximity of Lucy's body to his having made the bulge in his underwear bigger.

Lucy still felt uncomfortable however; something about the morning just not settling right in the pit of her stomach.

Loke leaned down to try and kiss her, but she just smiled and pulled away, trying to play off her behaviour as teasing.

"I think what I need is..." she hummed, holding a finger up to her chin as if thinking.

Loke chased after her lips again, rubbing their noses together, "Yes, princess?"

"Breakfast!" Lucy said with finality as she slapped his chest playfully and pulled herself from his grasp, applauding herself for manoeuvring out of the situation.

Loke looked stunned, and stuttered some unintelligible reply before just nodding in defeat.

"Breakfast," he agreed.

"I know a great place, we'll have to drive but I assure you their pancakes are the best in Fiore. I'll go get ready!" Lucy chimed, cocking her head to the side and purposefully laying on a wide, innocent grin.

Loke just gaped at her for a moment longer before swallowing hard and saying, "Ok, I'll be right behind you, just erm, just give me a minute..."

Lucy watched as he closed his eyes in frustration and tried to readjust the obvious boner in his boxers.

"I'll let you take a shower first?" was Lucy's only offer of solace.

Loke just nodded, tentatively bending down to grab his clothes from around the bedroom and sauntered off to the bathroom, wondering where the fuck he went wrong.

* * *

45 minutes later, a bewildered Loke pulled up in the parking lot of some greasy spoon looking diner called 8-Island, after following Lucy's instructions from the passenger seat.

"Well this isn't the quaint brunch spot I pictured," Loke mumbled.

"Trust me, this is better than a quaint brunch spot. You get way more bang for your buck," Lucy winked as she patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Diving out of the car, she ignored the strange feeling that still radiated from within her and marched into the diner, sporting black Dr. Martens, a high waist denim mini skirt, a black crop tee and her leather jacket, swinging her vintage cross body bag over herself with determination. Loke followed uneasily, but still eyed the blonde’s figure greedily from behind as she stomped ahead.

Once inside, the man was pleasantly surprised at the friendly atmosphere.

It was brightly lit, clean, and the walls were covered in motorcycle memorabilia and black and white photographs of groups of guys with bikes.

A doddering old man looked up from where he was making coffee behind the counter, and froze when he saw Lucy.

"Hey Yajima! Long time no see, hey? I've bought along a new guest for you to convert with your wondrous cooking," Lucy beamed sweetly, raising her eyebrows up and down playfully and leaning over the counter slightly.

"Lucy, my dear... I sure did not expect to see you here this morning," Yajima replied with a strained voice and what could only be interpreted as a sad smile.

Lucy arched an eyebrow ever so slightly at his strange tone, not by much at all, but Loke still noticed.

"Everything ok, Yajima? I know I've not swung by in a while, but I figured, y’know, it would be ok to come by now?" The blonde probed as if she was trespassing.

Yajima was one of Draconis' founding nine. He left long before Igneel became president, claiming that he didn't have the heart to keep up with the lifestyle anymore. What he truly wanted to do was cook, so without burning any bridges, he left to open 8-island, on the understanding that the diner would always be under Draconis' jurisdiction, and a safe haven for all members.

"Of course it is my dear, it's just that today... Well, you know, I have a big order, in light of the news..." Yajima shifted on his feet uncomfortably, his eyes darting around the room, looking pained.

Lucy felt the bizarre uneasiness in her stomach increase as she leant over the counter even further, desperately trying to catch Yajima's eye.

"What news?" She asked softly.

Yajima looked up in shock, but schooled his features as he processed the fact that Lucy was not in the loop, and for some reason that made her being here make sense.

"Nevermind. What would you and this fellow like to drink? You can take your favourite bay by the window!" He chirped, trying to change the subject.

" _What_ news, Yajima?" Lucy pressed again, this time in a clipped tone, ignoring the old man's jabbering.

Loke could feel the tension in the room rise, there were only a couple of other customers in the joint but he felt them all make a pointed effort to look away from the two staring at each other from either side of the counter. He shifted from foot to foot.

"I'll take a black coffee?" Loke proffered, attempting to cut through Lucy's suddenly steely aura.

"Ah yes, a black coffee for the boy!"

"Yajima!" Lucy clicked her fingers in the old man's face in order to grab his attention back and pushed harder for an answer, " _What news_?"

"Lu?" A timid voice gasped from the entrance way.

Yajima and Lucy both froze, Loke turned round to spy who was calling the blonde's name.

It was a small girl with blue hair, pulled back messily off her face with an orange head band, in an orange dress and blue leggings, looking exhausted and as pale as a ghost.

"Lev?" Lucy finally breathed out, spinning on her feet to approach the girl, pausing when she took in the haggard state of her.

Levy just gave a meek smile and an awkward wave, before letting her eyes flit over to Loke, who went on to give her an equally awkward wave back for reasons he would never even understand himself.

Lucy just rushed over to her friend and stroked her tired face. Levy grabbed Lucy's hands and held them.

"Are you ok?" Lucy finally asked, "You're all kinda spooking me. I know the guys went out on a job, and Yajima says there's been some news. Judging by your red, raw eyes, it does not seem good..."

"Yeah, erm, I'm here to pick up everyone's favourite breakfasts... They erm, they need it?" Levy winced as she tried to figure out what to say.

Loke could tell Lucy was officially losing the last of her patience, her eye twitching in that way it did around school when dealing with frustrating children. He thought she was about to blow up, but instead, she completely broke.

"What's going _on_ you guys? Something is seriously wrong I can tell. Why are you hiding it?" Lucy's voice cracked with worry, "Is it- is it _Natsu_?"

Loke didn't know why, but his eye twitched at the mention of that name, at the emotion Lucy loaded it with.

"Lu! No! Ah! Kind of? Oh, _fuck it_!" Levy wailed as she started to well up, but she took a deep breath and carried on.

"Ok. So, bear with me Lu… It's- It’s Igneel. Their job, it- it went wrong, and.... And, Igneel, well, he's- well he's dead, Lu."

Loke's eyes widened, what he fuck kind of soap opera was unfolding around him? He watched as Lucy pulled out of Levy's grasp and took a step backward, her face paling as she shook her head in abject horror.

"Lu?" Levy asked cautiously, silent tears crawling down her face.

Lucy grabbed on to the closest table, bending over double, visibly winded by the news.

The world started spinning around her, the smell of the greasy food and pungent coffee making her want to throw up. She couldn't breathe, the uneasiness was taking over, her mind flitting to the bizarre dreams from the previous night. She then realised she was going faint; it was as if her head was being split open.

Levy began all out crying, and went to reach for her friend.

"I'm sorry Lu, it happened last night, I wasn't allowed to tell you!" The girl wept.

At that, Lucy twitched once more, as if being struck with a final blow.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself up right and turned to face Loke, with one hand still gripping on to the edge of the table for dear life.

He stepped towards her, unsure really on what the hell to do.

"Loke, I've... I don’t know. I've got to go, I'm sorry!" She whimpered, hiding her face away from him, as suddenly she bolted out of the diner and into the street, and started to just run.

"Lucy!" Loke cried after her feeling as though it was his duty, but knowing it was entirely futile.

"Shit!" Levy cursed with exasperation next to him.

"The food is all here, Levy darling," Yajima pointed to a box full of brown paper bags.

"Thank you, Yajima. Erm, hang on let me get the cash," she began fumbling in her pockets hopelessly, whilst still staring out the window searching for where Lucy disappeared to.

"It's on the house, dear. I will be round to see Makarov later," Yajima soothed.

Levy’s head snapped around to look at the old chef. She just nodded back at him with an almost invisible smile, grabbed the box, stopped to eye Loke with what could only be called distain, and bolted out of the door. After a moment more fumbling for her keys, the tiny bluenette piled into a beat up old Chevy and drove off crazily in the same direction Lucy ran.

Loke just carried on staring out the window, lost for words.

"Still want that coffee son?" Yajima enquired.

"You're not going to tell me I should be going after her? Lucy that is?" Loke asked sheepishly.

"Not unless you have a death wish, dear boy," Yajima sighed, as he filled a mug on the counter with tar black caffeine.

* * *

Lucy didn't know why she chose to run, why she didn't wait for Levy, or get a lift with Loke.

She snapped her eyes shut and shook her head. No, she knew exactly why she didn't get a lift with Loke. However at this moment in time, after she had ran a solid three blocks in the direction of DMC's clubhouse, she was really regretting not thinking of the Levy option.

She kept powering on though, ignoring the cat calling from local kids riding skateboards and playing ball, and just let her feet take her. The pain in her muscles being the only thing keeping her brain from slipping entirely into a distraught fog.

Suddenly there was the sound of a car beeping behind her, thinking it was going to be yet more punks taking the piss, she ignored it. Until the car sped up in front of her and braked suddenly, forcing her to stop. The encroaching fog in Lucy's mind began to clear again, as the driver's side door swung open and Levy popped her head out.

"Get in Lu!" The small girl demanded.

Lucy nodded, and ran round to the passenger side door.

"I forgot how fast those legs of yours are girl! By the time I figured out which route you were going to have taken you really got this far!" Levy said in disbelief as she manoeuvred the car back into drive.

"I've had a lot of practice over the years," Lucy joked unenthusiastically.

"Erza would be proud," Levy smirked sadly, "bet you're not running from cops anymore though, hey?"

Lucy just grimaced a small smile, and turned to her old friend, barely holding herself up as she fought to catch her breath.

"Levy... What happened?"

Levy stayed silent, and pursed her lips together whilst she mulled over the right words. Lucy waited as the seconds stretched for what felt like hours.

 **“** Basic deets? They were ambushed. Rival gang. Natsu, Ig, Met, and Gray were all front line. Igneel did what he always did..." Levy trailed off, determined to finish off her summary, but her guts churning with grief.

"Went in guns blazing?" Lucy offered.

"Protected Natsu's ass," Levy said matter of factly, as if just sputtering it out like that was the only way she was going to have the courage.

Lucy blinked.

"You mean?"

"He died taking a shot for Natsu," Levy clarified, gripping he steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white.

Lucy's eyes began to well, and the air around her felt suffocating once more. She gripped the car door tightly, and a guttural sob left the back of her throat before she could stop it.

The turmoil that Natsu must be facing? She couldn't handle thinking about it.

Her friend reached over and stroked her knee softly in a futile attempt to comfort the blonde.

"Just get me to him, Lev," she cried softly.

"Nearly there, Lu," Levy reassured.

* * *

As they entered the lot, Lucy barely waited for Levy to stop the car before swinging the door open and running out. Her feet carried on her autopilot towards the heavy doors of the entrance, and she pushed herself through violently.

As she fell through into the club room, everyone in the bar looked up to the light that flooded the room from the outside. Once Lucy’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she took in the sorry sight before her; everyone gathered in groups, collapsed over tables and the bar top, beer and whiskey in hand despite it barely being 10.30am.

It was Gajeel who perked up first, eyes wide with a mix of shock and horror.

"Bunny?!"

"Hey Gaj, I bumped into Lev-" Lucy began.

"Shriiiiiiiimppppp!" Gajeel began to growl, standing up abruptly, knocking his chair over behind him.

Levy poked her head round the door sheepishly.

"No breakfast if you kill me, babe," she said as she pushed the box of food through the door way.

Lucy ignored the bickering and carried on marching towards the stairs door.

"Is he here?!" She asked desperately to no one in particular.

Mira was the next to chip in.

"Lucy hun, it’s lovely to see you, but I don't think now is a good time..."

"No. It's a shit time,” came an ice cold voice from a dark corner, “go home, Lucy.”

Gray stalked forward towards the blonde, revealing himself as the stern voice’s owner.

Lucy rolled her eyes and made an attempt to walk past him, grumbling under her breath.

"I'm ignoring that you dare just speak to me in that tone, Gray. Is he here?"

"Lucy..." Gray growled in warning back, grabbing her by the wrist before she could take another step, “I’m not joking about.”

"Ok, fine. However... Is. He. Here?" She replied through gritted teeth, squaring up to her supposed friend so they were eye to eye.

There was a crash from above them upstairs, it sounded like a piece of furniture being thrown against a wall. Lucy tried to pull away to head for the noise.

" _No_ , Lucy! I said, no!" Gray snapped pulling her back to his chest.

"Stop it, Gray! Someone has to fucking go to him!” She shouted in disbelief.

The crashing grew more intense over their heads. Lucy broke her glare from Gray to scan the room.

“I cannot believe you are all just sat down here drinking, whilst he is up there alone as his world falls apart!” She screamed in frustration, gesturing to everyone around her.

"No! Nuh-uh! You don't get to do that, Lucy!" Gray snarled.

"Do what?!" She laughed, bewildered.

"Pick and choose! Pick and choose when you get to give a _fuck_ about him!" Gray spat.

Lucy finally snapped her wrist back from his grasp and rubbed it tenderly, taking a step back shaking her head in shock as she rolled her eyes.

"Ohhhhh no! Oh no, Gray. _You_ don't get to say that to me. To _me_!" She sneered as she then lunged forward to jab her finger into his chest, her eyes shooting daggers, her voice rising to a scream as she continued, "Not after what you all did to me that night! I mean, you guys all just happened to forget about caring for _me_ on that _fuckdamn_ night, right?!”

"Jesus Chris- that night? Still with that _night_?!” Gray shook his head and laughed, baffled, running his hand through his hair, taking a second to gather his thoughts. His Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he strung the words he wanted to say together in his head.

“You know what fine, just answer me this, Lucy… What the fuck were _you_ doing last night?" The raven haired man finally probed, angrily.

"Last- last night?" The volume of Lucy's voice wavered mid-sentence as the recognition of when the sordid events took place unfurled in her mind. Closing her eyes to hold back tears, she tried to explain calmly.

"I... didn’t know Gray. I only just found out, I- I came straight here, ok? I didn't know."

"No... No, you _wouldn't_ have known, would you?" Gray rubbed a hand down his face in frustration before narrowing his eyes with ire, "Because you were too busy doing the one thing you won’t forgive him for: spreading your legs!"

Lucy's eyes widened but before she could scream at him some more, Mira chewed him out first.

"Gray Fullbuster!" The silver haired bar maid screeched, and stormed over throwing a wet rag at the back of his head violently, tears of anger from watching the two old friends tear each other apart in her eyes.

The enforcer barely jolted.

"It's ok, Mira," Lucy reassured in a frighteningly calm voice, not taking her eyes off her supposed friend, "it's ok..."

There was a pause and Gray eyed her cautiously before she took in a deep, haggard breath and carried on the conversation.

"I thought I heard engines outside my house last night. You came to find me?"

" _He_ came to find you..." this time Gray paused before plucking up the courage to continue, his face contorting as if the words he was about to say tasted sour.

"His dad had died, Lucy... Igneel had been shot in the head, and Natsu was covered in his _blood_. Can you imagine that? That sight? And in his desperation, who did he run to? You. Because he will _always_ love you. But you- you weren't there for him when he probably needed it the most he ever will," Gray's voice broke as he finished what he had to say, tears finally falling from his eyes because of the pain he felt for his best friend.

"I'm _sorry_ , Gray. I really am. But this attack on me wasn’t fair, I'm not sorry that I slept with someone. One person. In the whole time I stopped seeing Natsu. Since that night, where _he chose_ that _he_ didn’t give a fuck about _me_. You won't hear me apologise for that," Lucy explained softly yet resolutely, "But still, I’m here now despite everything, so don't you dare - don’t you _dare_ say ever again, that I don't care. Now _please_ , let me through."

She looked at him pleadingly.

Gray looked around the room, and aside from the murderous glares every woman was shooting at him, the guys just stared at him expectantly. Makarov was silent in the corner, but even he nodded.

Gray just sighed and stepped aside, ran his hand through his hair, and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the bar, before storming off to the front door and slamming it shut behind him.

Lucy looked around uneasily, the realization of the scene she had just caused sinking in. She hoped against hope that Natsu hadn't heard it upstairs.

However, before she could dwell on it, there was more crashing from Natsu's room and Lucy couldn't wait a second longer.

She ran upstairs.

The gang in the bar looked at each other baffled.

Gajeel shuffled awkwardly in his seat letting out a deep breath, Bickslow let out a long, low whistle, and Cobra almost beamed with pride witnessing the Club’s old angel standing up for herself like that.

Laxus just rolled his eyes and flicked a cigarette into his mouth, muttering judgement under his breath, before being promptly hit directly in the face with another of Mira's bar rags.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter guys ~~~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the lovely feedback! I was apprehensive about starting a new fic, but now I've started it I can't stop! Glad some people are actually enjoying it!

As Lucy reached the top of the stairs, the crashing reached a crescendo before the air fell deathly silent.

She softly stepped towards the bedroom door and took a deep breath, before shaking out her body in an attempt to shed her nerves, and knocked.

There was nothing in response.

Lucy screwed her face up in frustration at not knowing what to do for the best. She rested her forehead on the wooden barrier for a moment before deciding to just dive straight into the deep end, and twisted the door handle.

The wooden door swung away to reveal a sight that would haunt the woman forever.

Natsu stood in the middle of the room panting heavily, his back to the door and his head hung to the floor, still dressed in the clothes saturated with what Lucy assumed was his father's blood. She watched as his back and shoulders heaved up and down violently, his fists clenched at his sides.

The only bits of furniture not damaged in any way in the entire room were the bed, and the tin box Lucy knew Natsu locked his memories within. Feathers were dancing around in the breeze from his ceiling fan, as she realised he had torn one of his pillows in two.

It wasn't for the first time in her sorry life, that her heart completely broke.

"Natsu, hey, it's me. It's Lucy..." she spoke softly and calmly in order to not vex him further.

Natsu slowly turned in her direction, and finally looked up. They made eye contact, and Lucy felt as though she couldn't swallow.

He looked haunted; his jaw clenched with grief, large black bags under his eyes, dried blood still spattered across his pale face.

She fought to hold in a gasp, and although all she wanted to do was take him in her arms, she waited for him to make the first move, not wanting to overstep her welcome.

After a torturous few seconds, Lucy saw Natsu’s face finally soften, as if knowing he was safe to be vulnerable around her. The anger he was radiating replaced with sorrow; his walls crumbled down.

Suddenly, he fell forward, as if the anger had been the only thing preventing him from collapsing with heartache. Lucy rushed forward and embraced him, taking his weight into her arms, and lowered them to their knees.

"Natsu, hey, I'm here," she whispered into his ear, as she wrapped herself under his arms, and cradled his head from behind against her shoulder.

"I came for you," she reassured.

Natsu nodded, and pressed his face into the crook of her neck, before wrapping his arms around her waist to cling on to her for dear life.

His body finally gave way, and he racked with sobs.

"He's gone," he sputtered after the two had sat that way for a while, "he's gone and it's my fault."

Lucy closed her eyes to hold back her own tears from the hopelessness of this situation. The pain in Natsu's voice stabbed straight through her, and she finally started to realise she would never see Igneel again.

"It is not your fault, Natsu. He would never, ever say it was your fault," she cooed, stroking his hair gently.

"He took a bullet for me, because I was too hot-headed!" Natsu just cried back.

"Stop, Natsu. He loves you so much, he did what he did because he didn't want to see you hurt, he wouldn't want you think like this," Lucy sniffled, pulling him even tighter and burying her face in his hair as her own tears finally broke through.

He gripped onto her even harder, but she allowed him. They stayed like that for a while, as Natsu violently cried out his pain, and Lucy silently wept as to not add to his discomfort.

Eventually she could feel the man’s sobs slow, the exhaustion finally getting the better of him.

"Let's get you cleaned up," she prodded his side tenderly, and pulled away from his tight embrace so they could look into each other’s eyes.

She tried to flash him a reassuring smile, and they gazed at each other intensely.

Natsu didn’t make a move to stand up, but instead reached out to stroke her cheek. Lucy blushed as her eyes widened and darted away from his to the floor. She heard him let out a shaky sigh, and felt his hand drop to his lap.

"Come on," she urged, her eyes still looking everywhere but at him, "get out of these clothes, go have a shower, and I'll pick you out a fresh outfit."

She could feel Natsu stare at her bewildered, so decided to rise to her feet in order to move the situation along. She stuck out her hand so she could pull him up. Natsu eventually nodded, accepting her offer and grasped her hand, steadying himself as he reached his feet and headed off towards his ensuite.

Lucy took a haggard breath, watching him from behind as he stripped off his clothes and threw them to the floor as he walked through his demolished belongings. Her eyes settled on his tattooed back as his muscles rippled with every movement, and she found herself having to remind herself that this really, _really_ was not the time to get flustered about being in close proximity to a showering Natsu.

Distracting herself, she quickly tidied up the room as much as she possibly could.

She started by grabbing his bloodied clothes and bunging them into an abandoned plastic carrier bag she found in one corner of the room, then began pushing the furniture debris to one side, dumping beer bottles and food packets in his waste paper basket, and frowning as she pushed condom wrappers and pillow feathers into a pile on the floor with her foot. She straightened out the bed and made the sheets as presentable as possible, then went to his barely standing wardrobe and pulled out a moth-eared, black t-shirt and some grey sweatpants that she recognised as his comfy clothes, and placed them on the mattress.

Taking a second to admire her handy work, she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

Natsu eventually emerged from the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist, looking even more exhausted than before. Studying the man’s face, Lucy couldn't register what emotion flickered over his features as he took in what she had done for him. Her stomach began to feel uneasy again. Had she overstepped a boundary by going through his stuff?

Maybe Gray was right, maybe this really was a bad idea.

Just as she was about to spiral into panic, Natsu looked at her earnestly and opened his mouth to speak.

“Thanks, Luce,” he croaked, his voice hoarse from crying.

"No problem,” she sputtered, before dropping her gaze and realising his state of undress.

Her face beamed red and she coughed uncomfortably.

“I'll erm - I’ll give you a minute," was all she could supply as she got up to look out of the bedroom window which oversaw the club's lot, attempting to give him some privacy.

The man uttered no reply as she heard his towel drop to the floor and the rustling of his clothes as he pulled them over his body. When she heard the bed springs, and the sound of him climbing under his sheets, she turned around slowly to find him curled up on his side staring in her direction but vacantly into space.

"Have you slept at all?" Lucy asked softly, as she walked over and bent down to stroke some hair from his face.

Natsu eyed her warily before admitting, "A bit. I think when I first got in I kinda just passed out from the shock? I'd demanded that the others all left me alone. My mind must have been runnin' on empty. Don't know how I made it home in one piece, really."

"Gray said you came to find me?" Lucy asked without thinking.

Natsu winced, "Sorry."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror and she quickly climbed on to the bed, pulling back the covers to lie next to him. Natsu shuffled backwards to give her some space.

"Don't you ever be sorry for coming to me, Natsu," she reassured, shuffling after him so they both lay with their faces inches apart, in the middle of the bed.

He looked up into her deep brown eyes and they gazed at one another again, both of them pining for something more, but neither believing the other would want it or that this was the right time to be thinking about such things.

Natsu had to look away in pain, thinking about how he lost the beauty in front of him, made the agony of losing his father sting even harder.

The ever perceptive Lucy noticed his eyes began to brim again, so she scooted even closer, pulling his head into her chest instinctively. Giving into his wants, Natsu sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, inhaling a deep breath in order to lose himself in Lucy’s natural scent.

He let the tears come back.

Their legs naturally entwined together, and Lucy ran soothing fingers through his damp hair until he gave into his exhaustion and cried himself to sleep. Without realising, Lucy had buried her face into his pink locks and let the fatigue from her own emotional morning lull her into a nap too.

There they lay, wrapped in each other's bodies, clinging to each other like they had nothing else.

* * *

A few hours later, they were awoken by the sound of Lucy's phone ringing. Both groaning, they shifted against each other, but both chose to ignore it.

Then it rang again.

This time Lucy actually woke up properly, her foggy brain returning from the realm of sleep with a shake of her head, before she came to and blushed at the position she found her and Natsu in.

His head had burrowed even deeper into her chest, his nose pressing through her t-shirt into her cleavage, and his hands had slid under her shirt on to the bare skin of her back, just under her bra strap. At some point, Natsu must have also pulled his own t-shirt completely off, as her hands were resting on his warm back. She sighed; she knew Natsu always ran too hot in bed, what did she expect?

As she cursed herself for the swell of emotions that she couldn’t analyse flowing through her, she was pulled from her frantic thoughts at the suddenness of how her phone stopped vibrating. However, before she could forget about it, it started again. She sighed and began to pry herself out of Natsu's embrace to stretch across him and grab her phone from the handbag dropped by his side of the bed.

As she moved Natsu let out a small growl and pulled her tighter to him.

"Ignore it, baby," he mumbled.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock.

What did he just call her?

‘ _Jesus Christ!_ ’ she thought to herself, and glanced down at him in a panic, but found he was back to dozing.

Taking a deep breath she remembered how he always spoke random crap in his sleep, and wasn’t to read too much into it. He had probably called countless girls ‘baby’ in this bed since the last time she had been it. Her stomach churned at the thought.

Once more, she was pulled from her overthinking because her phone stopped, but started _again_.

"Fuck _me_!" She hissed, officially losing her patience with the entire situation.

She pried Natsu’s arms off of her, so she could finally pull herself up and dive over him for the phone.

Lying horizontally across his waist, she rummaged in her bag until she found the offending item. She was ready to cuss out whoever the fuck it was ringing her, until she saw the caller ID.

Loke.

"Fuck!" she snapped under her breath.

Suddenly, she felt Natsu's weight shifting underneath her so he was on his back and peering towards her.

Before she could hide the phone away she felt his rumbling voice vibrate through their melded bodies.

"Answer it," he said groggily, "he must be worried about you."

Lucy turned to look at the man beneath her and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion. Natsu gave her a knowing look back, before flitting his eyes up to stare at the ceiling to hide the pained expression developing on his face, and lifted his hands from under her to cross them behind his head.

The phone in Lucy's hand stopped vibrating, but instantly started up again. That was now the fifth ring, and that level of intensity in the middle of this fucked up situation made her want to explode.

"He obviously just cares, Luce," Natsu said reading her mind, "if you ditched him this morning because of an emergency – then he's worried."

He lifted his hips playfully and bounced her body up and down on top of him, "Just answer it!"

Lucy scowled at the man's obvious attempt to hide his emotions via clowning around, but decided he was right and she should just get this over with. Playfully hitting Natsu to stop the continued bouncing, she clambered off him and swiped to answer the call.

"Hello?" She hastily answered, turning away from the man she was lying in bed with.

Natsu just cocked an eyebrow and pulled a childish face of disapproval behind her back, before listening intently for the voice on the other line.

"Lucy!" It sounded relieved.

"Hey Loke, I'm so sorry..." Lucy began.

"It's fine! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I just stood there this morning. I didn't know what to do. I've been thinking about it all day, replaying what happened and how I really should have followed to make sure you were alrig-"

"Don't be silly, Loke! You didn't need to do anything, we were just out for breakfast you don't owe me anything like that," Lucy sputtered cutting him off quickly, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

"But that's the thing! The more I've sat and thought about it, the more I realised that I want more breakfasts, and therefore I should have stayed with you, checking you're ok. _Are_ you ok, princess?"

Natsu rolled his eyes at that.

Princess? Lucy was anything but; to him she was more like a sorceress, or maybe even a dragon slayer. She was ferocious, strong and the kindest person he had ever met. A warrior goddess made of starlight.

He rolled over to flip his legs off the side of the bed, deciding he didn't want to listen in on anymore.

Lucy obviously sensed his discomfort, and tried to wrap up the conversation.

"I'm ok, it's not really me you should be worrying about. It's- it's my erm..." Lucy paused trying to think of a word that best described Natsu and cringed as she spoke it, "my _friend's_ father. Ugh, can we talk later?"

"Sure thing, princess. Did you want me to pop round yours this evening? Are you going to be on your own? I'll bring food?" The voice on the phone asked.

Lucy watched Natsu pace to the window and lean his forearm against the glass to rest his head on, and stare out.

"Erm, I'm not sure, I'll get back to you. I really should go, Loke, sorry, so much happening. Bye!" She rushed out.

"Oh ok princess, bye! Let me know-"

Lucy hung up, cutting him off.

"I'm sorry, Nats-" she began in a concerned voice.

Natsu turned his head to look at her with cold, numb eyes that stopped the words in her throat. The way his muscles flexed throughout his body as he moved turned her brain to jelly, and yet his clenched jaw made her want to cry.

It felt like she had no chance in forming the right words, so she just sat there, staring worriedly. 

"You should go," was all the pink haired man managed in reply.

"What?" Lucy asked in disbelief, eyes desperately trying to meet his.

"You should go. Thank you for coming, and for helping me, but it's time you left," Natsu explained with an ice cold voice, which she knew from years of studying the man, was the voice he used when he was trying too hard to fight against his kind nature and be cruel to someone who had crossed him.

Lucy gulped and stood up to reach over to him, "Natsu?"

Natsu turned to her fully and batted her hand away, "I have the club downstairs to look after me. My family. I don't need you here pitying me. Go to your man."

Lucy swallowed deeply and distorted her face with confusion, maybe even a bit of anger.

"He's not my _man_ , Natsu... I don't want to go to him, I want to be here. These people are my family too, and I want to be here with them. I want to be here with yo-"

"Don't," Natsu cut her off quickly, shaking his head, practically barking his words, "don't you dare say what you were about to say, as we both know you don't mean it in the way I want you to mean it."

Lucy opened her mouth to reply but the words wouldn't come out. She wanted to tell him that he was wrong to think that, that she loved him, that she never stopped loving him, but then she looked at the room around her. The paraphernalia of fucks gone by shining out to her like beacons in the night. She felt that sense of betrayal again, and she couldn't say it.

"I don't need this right now. You don't need this right now. Igneel may as well have been your dad too, so don't drown out your own feelings worrying about me. Go be looked after, Luce. You deserve it, and I can't do that for you right now," Natsu admitted, scrunching up his face as if the words rolling out of his mouth actually tasted bad.

Lucy still couldn’t gather her thoughts enough to form a coherent reply, so just nodded silently after a moment, and turned to grab her things.

Natsu shook his head and went back to looking out the window.

Tears formed in both their eyes. He had hoped she would have put up more of a fight. She hoped he would turn around and say he didn’t mean it, that she should stay.

Nastu didn't look back as he heard Lucy open the door, where she paused for a moment.

If they had anything to say, they’d say it, they both thought. There was nothing but silence, then eventually the sound of Lucy’s footsteps carrying her outside, and the door shutting.

Lucy stood on the other side of the wooden barrier for a second to catch her breath and pull herself together. All she wanted was to be in his arms again. Waking up in his bed just then, had felt so right. More right than when she woke up that morning with Loke.

"You can't keep doing this girl," she whispered almost silently to herself, "you either need to storm in there and tell him, or move on."

She turned to stare at the door handle, weighing up her options, but was disturbed when she heard footsteps softly pacing up the stairs behind her. She turned to find herself face to face with Erza.

"How is he?" The red head asked quietly, her face riddled with worry.

"As you'd expect," Lucy shrugged, "I got him cleaned up and to have some sleep though. He'll be ready for some food."

"That's why I was coming up, I figured with you in there I could probably brave checking on him. Mira's cooking now," Erza looked Lucy up and down, "are you not staying?"

"He told me to go," Lucy grimaced.

Erza nodded slowly in understanding, before patting her shoulder comfortingly.

"Will you keep me updated, Erza? Do you still have my number?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Of course I do, Lucy. You are always welcome here too, I hope you know that?" Erza asked concerned, pushing a strand of Lucy's hair behind her ear tenderly.

Lucy rolled her eyes; nothing could be further from the truth if the last two men she spoke to were to be believed.

"Maybe when the guys are out, hey?" She conceded.

Erza scowled.

"I'm sorry for the way Gray spoke to you. I made sure he got a piece of my mind about that. You know, he really does still love you like a sister, but I suppose that means you two will squabble like siblings too."

"He will always love Natsu more," Lucy frowned, fiddling with her fingers, before bolstering herself back up with a nod, "but that's ok, because that's the way it should be."

Erza smiled, "Always have been too sensible, Lucy... Anyway, it probably is best you get yourself off. News has spread fast and members from all over are pouring in, it's getting… Rowdy, to say the least. Plus, after we've eaten, the chapter is going to have to vote for the new President."

"So soon?" Lucy gaped.

"This is a big operation. It needs a leader else we will be seen as weak,” Erza explained efficiently before pausing, her brow pinching and her gaze shifting to Natsu’s door, ”do you think he's ready?"

Lucy nodded and smiled sadly, "He was born ready, Erz.”

Erza nodded too, and pulled Lucy into a tight embrace, "I'll speak to you later, Lucy. Thank you for coming."

"Anytime," Lucy whispered as she squeezed her friend back, before making her way down the wooden stairs quietly in an attempt to sneak out past the maddening crowd below.

Erza remained standing in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest, watching the girl leave with hope in her heart, when she heard the door crack open behind her.

"I heard all of that ya know? Paper thin walls," Natsu smirked tiredly, knocking on the plaster.

Erza smiled back at him, the love for her brother figure pouring from her eyes.

"Good. I won't have to repeat myself then," she chuckled with mock sincerity.

"I'm sorry I hid away," Natsu looked down to the floor awkwardly, kicking at the floorboards, "how are you holding up? He meant so much to you, too."

Erza just stepped forward and hugged her old friend, "I'm better now I've seen you standing. He wouldn't want you down for the count."

Natsu hugged her back.

"I just can't escape the fact this is my fault."

"He died doing his job, Natsu. Protecting the club. He wouldn't have had it any other way."

"Nah, he used to tell me he wouldn't go til he saw me married with 10 kids," Natsu scoffed.

"He'll still see you both from where he is now," Erza soothed, but Natsu just pulled away from the hug and looked back at her in confusion.

"You and Lucy," Erza explained, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious.

"Shut _up_ , Erza. She's moved on," Natsu scowled, pushing the red head away from him like a little kid.

"Yeah, yeah, and my hair's blue," Erza scoffed back, grabbing her friend by the wrist to pull him downstairs to the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So close guys.............. Sorry for all this heavy angst, I love their pining though!


	7. Chapter 7

Later that night, the bar was flooded with the entire of the Magnolia chapter of Draconis plus a good selection of Nomads who had felt closest to Igneel over all others in the organisation. It had only been a day, but news travels fast in a group where the bond of the patch is as thick as that of blood.

Under Makarov and Erza's recommendation, the members all gathered in the club room around the long wooden table where they conducted their meetings, to vote for the next club structure. No matter how painful it was, the club couldn't be seen as floating leaderless, it would only make them appear vulnerable. After what happened with Alvarez, they all agreed they needed to pick themselves back up quickly.

In the end the decision was unanimous, Natsu was sworn in as president.

Everyone knew that was what Igneel dreamed of for his son, and Natsu was the only person who could possibly begin to fill his shoes.

Gajeel was to become the VP, and Metallicana was going to step down from being Sergeant in Arms, opting for semi-retirement in the form of becoming an enforcer again. The old giant explained that Natsu needed to appoint his own most trusted to be by his side. At that moment, all eyes had fallen on Gray, who coughed up the beer he was drinking and kicked up one hell of a stink, but eventually agreed to stand for vote. The other officers remained in their original posts, being deemed the most worthy for what they held.

Once the official proceedings had reached their conclusion, the members went on to toast the memory of Igneel, and the legacy that his son would lead. Natsu had raised a glass of whiskey in salute before forcing a smile and backing out through the crowd to sneak outside.

Round the back of the chop shop, he crashed his back against the corrugated metal wall and slid down to sit on the ground. He ran his calloused hands through his messy hair and scrunched his eyes closed tight. He concentrated on keeping his breathing under control and attempting not to succumb to even more tears. The whole voting process, sitting in the club room without his father overseeing the event, had been extremely disorientating. He definitely had not been ready to face so many people, but grinned and bore as it was in the best interest of Draconis and he had to prove he could lead.

After a few minutes drowning in the darkness behind his eyelids, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find Gray swinging himself down to sit on the ground next to him with a deep sigh. They sat in silence, as Gray lit him a cigarette and they went on to stare at the stars together. Gray knew there were no words of solace that he could offer, and Natsu was just far too exhausted to discuss his feelings. Enough time passed liked that for them to both finish their cigarettes, the pair flicking their butts across the lot.

Gray automatically pulled out his pack and lit up for the both of them again, when Natsu finally spoke up, his tone barbed, "I heard the way you spoke to Luce. Should learn to keep your voice down."

Gray sighed heavily once more, and crashed his head back against the wall behind them, raising the heels of his hands and pushing them against his eyes, the fresh cigarette between his fingers dropping ash on to his jeans.

"I was a real shit head," he groaned.

"At least you recognise it," Natsu nodded as he took a deep breath of the new cigarette he’d been handed.

Gray dropped his hands to his legs and absentmindedly flicked the ash away, looking his friend up and down from the corner of his eyes.

"I just can't stand to see you hurt, bro."

" _Everything_ hurts, Gray. There's nothing we can do but face it head on. We don’t need to cause any more pain amongst ourselves," Natsu mulled.

"Huh. Since when did you start spouting wisdom, flame brain?" Gray chuckled insincerely in an attempt to crack a smile from his friend.

Natsu laughed, but it was hollow, "I've learnt a lot the hard way this past year, I've gotta lot of lessons to tell.”

Gray nodded, and placed his hand on Natsu's knee, gripping it hard and shaking it in an attempt to show his support. They went back to sitting in silence for a while, admiring the night sky.

"I'm gonna go for a ride," Natsu eventually decided.

Gray cocked an eyebrow, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm getting antsy being cooped up in this lot. I need to feel the open air, ya know?” Natsu explained, standing up and shaking his shoulders before looking down at his friend with a sudden smirk, “That cool with you, _sergeant_?"

Gray just nodded and carried on looking at the stars, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, "Sure thing, _Prez_."

Natsu nodded back before walking off to let himself into the garage. He headed to the safe where all the spare keys were kept. His bike was long gone, still littering the highway from the job of nightmares. So he grabbed a pair of slightly rusty keys, with a red dragon key chain hanging from it, and headed to the back of the garage. He pulled back a blue tarp, to reveal his father's show bike, his old pride and joy. It was a Harley Shovelhead Chopper from the 70s with orange flame detailing painted on to the black gas tank. Natsu stroked the paintwork, remembering being a young boy and watching his dad concentrate meticulously on painting the detail.

He climbed on and pushed up the kick stand, then began flicking the switches to turn on the gas. He found the choke and pulled the throttle slightly to warm the engine up. He let the mechanical process he knew so well subdue the pain inside his head. When satisfied, he twisted the key into the ignition, and let the wall of noise that erupted from the engine wash over him. He closed his eyes and smiled, before kicking his feet off the ground and letting the bike pull him away from his responsibilities.

At first, he wasn't sure where he was heading, but before he knew it he found himself in Magnolia's suburbs, driving towards Strawberry Street. He cursed himself at the realisation of his bad habit; his default setting was to run to Lucy, and it was getting old. He knew this journey wasn't about getting Lucy’s attention though, but was somehow for his own sense of closure; to maybe just get a glance of the man who decided she was a princess and confirm that the guy wasn’t as big a piece of shit as himself. That she would be happy and he needed to let her move on.

When he saw that crappy Ford parked up in her driveway again, his stomach dropped with the realisation that that could be a very tangible reality. He pushed through the bout of nausea those thoughts stirred within him, and pulled up a few houses down the block, out of sight of Lucy's windows, and waited.

For what, he didn’t know.

If the guy was staying the night, he sure as hell wouldn't be leaving to get in his car would he? He knew if he were in that house, he wouldn't be leaving in a hurry. If he was in her bed, he wouldn't be leaving her soft embrace. That thought made him sick. They were probably making love as he stood there, like a pitiful stalker. A shiver ran down his spine. Would Lucy really make _love_ to another man?

Natsu berated himself again, this was a _really_ stupid idea.

He was about to give up, feeling entirely pathetic and stupid when suddenly he heard a door open. His head pricked up like a dog, and he spun around to watch as a ginger haired guy stepped out of Lucy's front door wearing the khaki jacket that Natsu had spotted in her kitchen days earlier.

What a simpler morning that was; he sighed to himself at the thought.

When his hunter’s gaze found Lucy’s figure following her new man, Natsu took in how utterly exhausted she looked, and every fibre of his being wanted to run and take her tired frame into his arms. Instead, he had little choice but to hide himself in the shadows.

This guy who he had to assume was Loke, turned around to face her, and leaned in to give her a gentle kiss. Natsu scowled, yet couldn't peel his eyes away thanks to some morbid fascination. Lucy gave a small smile back at the man’s gesture, but it didn't reach her eyes. She said some hurried words, and accepted another kiss from the guy before waving goodbye. Loke stood on the doorstep until she had closed and locked the door, and then ran his hands through his hair in what looked like exasperation, readjusted the glasses on his face, and strutted back to his car.

Natsu bristled all over. He hated the man.

He didn't need to properly meet the guy. He just knew.

Not just because he was with his Luce, but because the guy just reeked of douchebag. He was too obviously try hard; someone strikingly plain with no real personality, trying to dress himself up as something cooler than he was. He just seemed shallow and ultimately, boring.

Lucy deserved more than that. She was wild, and the kindness of her soul reached depths Natsu never thought possible. She was so special it’s like she belonged to the stars.

Shaking himself from his stupor, he climbed back on to his bike and waited a moment for this Loke guy to pull off and get a decent distance ahead of him, then decided to set off in pursuit to see what more he could learn about this new intrusion on his happiness.

Yes, secretly following your ex's new flame across town definitely could come across as maniacal, but this new mission was helping Natsu distract himself from the hollow pain his father's loss was reaping throughout him, and ultimately, he just wanted to be sure Lucy was going to be ok.

Soon enough, the man pulled into a driveway a few blocks away and Natsu slowed himself down. Driving past the house the guy had pulled up in, he parked up hidden behind some tall shrubbery on someone else's drive.

The first thing Natsu noticed, was that Loke's car was not the only one on the drive, which made him uneasy. He tried to rationalise that it could be a parent's, a sibling's, a friend's, but something felt off.

The next thing that made Natsu on edge, was the fact that the guy was taking an awfully long amount of time preening himself in his rear view mirror, before hopping out into the house's front yard and bounding up the steps to the door.

The final straw, was when the guy stood and knocked instead of just letting himself in. Natsu felt sick with rage, and hoped against hope that he wasn't about to witness what he thought he was.

The door opened to reveal a pretty, young lady, with curly pink hair and pale complexion. She obviously blushed at the sight of the man on her doorstep. Natsu took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, telling himself this still didn't mean anything.

Then his eyes widened, and his blood boiled, he watched in what felt like slow motion as Loke leaned in and took the woman in his arms, kissing her passionately on the step.

"That mother _FUCKER_!" Natsu snarled, storming over before he could think otherwise, grabbing a shovel that was left standing upright in one of the neighbour's front flowerbeds on the way to let all hell loose.

Although what he really wanted to do was wrap the shovel around the stupid fuck's head, he instead swung it like a baseball bat and smashed it into the rear window of Loke’s car.

The ensuing smashing noise resulted in the couple springing apart on the doorstep, the woman shrieking in horror. Loke just froze in shock, and watched as Natsu made his way round to the side of the car and smashed the windows that resided there too.

Eventually the enraged biker reached the windshield and smashed the borrowed piece of gardening equipment on it a couple of times, before finally throwing it at full velocity through the glass.

Once the shovel was finally out of Natsu's hand, Loke miraculously found his voice.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" The ginger screeched.

Natsu didn't even bother to look in the man's direction at first, scared of the rage he would unleash if he did so, and turned on his heels to leave the carnage behind.

Loke chased after him hurling more threats, but made sure to do so at such a pace as not to actually catch up with him. Natsu rolled his eyes at the guy's mock heroics, the pathetic show eventually forcing him to stop dead in his tracks, so Loke had no choice but to suddenly slam into him.

At this, Loke physically reeled, before taking a big gulp and attempting to hold his ground. Natsu slowly turned around and took another step towards him, so their noses were almost touching.

Loke was shaking, the woman on the steps was sobbing. Natsu gritted his teeth and glared at the coward before him with the deadly stare that helped earn him his rightful place as the now President of Draconis MC.

He wanted to punch Loke so bad, but he knew Lucy would never forgive him if he did. So instead, he spat in his face and sneered, then spun back on his heels to make his exit.

Once he was back at his father's bike, he jumped on and sped off in the opposite direction to which he came.

The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and he was not looking forward to Lucy finding out about any of this. He couldn't face going back to the club and have his father's death be slapped in his face constantly either. So he b-lined it to the one other place he could think of to go, another Draconis friendly haunt: Cana's bar.

Cana's bar was called just that, _Cana's Bar_ , and was labelled as such with a massive, tacky, pink neon sign. It was on the outskirts of town by the docks, and was the drinking establishment of choice for many a thug. Natsu parked his bike around the side of the building, behind where Cana parked her old soft top mustang, where he knew it could be locked up and kept safe.

Marching his way through the swathes of tire kicking smokers outside, he swung the vintage style saloon doors open and all but fell into the bar. The place was decorated with what felt like every kitsch ornament on the planet. Multi coloured fairy lights hung across the ceiling, bizarre paintings thrifted from yard sales littered every wall, strange dolls and ceramic animals balanced on shelves and were hung in random places. The furniture was all dark oak, with a candle on every table in an attempt to create some ambience, despite the fact the clientele existed almost entirely of hooligans who honestly couldn't give a fuck. All that mattered to them was that the beer was cheap, and that the bar's owner kept tight lipped about the deals done on her turf.

As Natsu stomped through the crowd gathering for the night, heads turned to take the biker in. He straightened up his jacket and pulled his shoulders up higher. In no mood for a fight, he tried to make his appearance seem as dominant as possible.

As he reached the bar, he found the infamous, scantily clad Cana with a cigarette in her mouth pouring a beer. She wore a blue bralet as a top, low-rise black leather leggings, and had a gold belly dancer chain swung round her bountiful hips. The girl was a beauty and she knew it; olive skin, voluminous brown wavy hair, and a figure so tight and curvy it didn’t seem possible. When Natsu got closer, he saw her aggressively cuss out a needy customer and he smirked; the girl may have looked pretty, but she had the mouth of a sailor and the dirtiest mind he'd ever come across. She was one of the biggest characters he knew.

Natsu took a seat at the bar and waited, he knew Cana would have seen him, but she didn't bother to actually look up at him as she carried on serving others.

"Hey there shit head," she called over to him, her cigarette still perched in the corner of her mouth, eyes still on the drinks she was pouring, "what am I getting you tonight?"

Natsu smirked back, "A bucket full of fire whiskey, _doll_."

This got Cana to finally look up at him, "Call me that again and I'll empty my pistol in your brain whilst you sleep."

Natsu arched an eyebrow, "That would mean your drunk ass would actually have to leave this place for something that isn't a cheap fuck."

Cana flung the last pint she was pouring across the bar haphazardly and snatched the change out of the patron's hand whilst maintaining the glare she had fixed on Natsu. She then spun around and grabbed a whiskey from the top shelf, and emptied a load of the amber liquid into a tumbler with a practised finesse.

She slammed it down in front of Natsu but then softened slightly and pointed at the drink, "On the house. My old man told me the news."

Natsu's eyes widened, he had been hoping that the news hadn't travelled this far yet, but what did he expect? The reality was that Cana was the daughter of one the MC's most infamous Nomads, Gildarts. The guy would disappear for long stretches of time on jobs, sometimes it even amounted to years. The old geezer had been close to Natsu's dad, and growing up Igneel and Natsu would often find themselves entertaining a pissed off Cana when she was left to fend for herself.

He hadn't seen Gildarts in what was definitely months. It said something that Igneel's death shook everyone to their core that badly, that the news even reached whatever dark corner the nomad was holed up in. 

Natsu just scowled, "I don’t wanna talk about it."

Cana looked up and nodded, "Fine with me, cum for brains."

Natsu smiled, this is why he liked Cana. No matter the situation, she wouldn't change the way she treated you. If you were her friend, there were no airs and graces, she didn't pussyfoot. Even if your dad had just died, you were still cum for brains to her.

Natsu downed his drink and waved the glass in the air, "Just keep 'em coming, yeah?"

"As long as you pay for the rest of 'em, you can have as many as you want, _doll_ ," Cana winked.

An hour or so later, Natsu was feeling entirely annihilated. Head spinning, he attempted to twirl around in his bar stool to head to the toilet, but instead was ambushed by a couple of busty, young girls.

"Where are you heading, handsome?" One girl asked, draping her arm across Natsu's shoulder in an embarrassingly desperate manner.

Natsu just tried to shift past them and grumbled, "The pisser."

"Oh?" The girl cooed and smiled at her friend, "How about we join you?"

Natsu stopped in his tracks and looked down at the pair bemused, "To the pisser?"

They nodded.

"You're that desperate for a fuck, you would let me have you both in a goddamn toilet cubicle?" Natsu deliberated, looking from one girl to the other with a baffled smirk on his face.

The girls looked a little taken back, but began to open their mouths to reply, when all of a sudden a wet bar rag was being waved in between them and Natsu.

Cana had rushed over and was flailing her arms around wildly, "Oh no, nuh-uh, not tonight you don't. You are not fucking yourself into oblivion on my watch Natsu, and definitely not in my bar! Go home girls, he's got herpes!"

The two girls just looked at each other in confusion and scuttled away. Natsu stood there for a second before shaking his head and rubbing his hand down his face.

"Gee thanks, Cana. I finally thought my night could have had a happy ending," he said rolling his eyes.

"The only happy ending I'm interested in is one where you scoop up my sweet Lu and carry her down the aisle, you shit head. Don't try it in here!" Cana scowled.

"Jesus Christ, _again_ with Lucy! When will everyone give up?!" Natsu snarled.

Cana narrowed her eyes, "And for using that tone with me, I'm calling Gray to fetch you."

Natsu's eyes widened in panic as he watched Cana strut behind the bar to the phone.

"Do not ring Gray!" Natsu pleaded like a little kid, "I told him I would be fine, and I am fine!"

He gestured down at himself with his hands and went to stretch out his arms as if to show himself off, but knocked a glass off the bar and then stumbled to the side in shock at his own clumsiness. Cana just cocked an eyebrow, and dialled a number. Natsu let out a deep sigh of resignation, and plonked himself back down on his stool, then buried his head face down in his arms on the bar top.

The next thing he remembered was being carried out, arms swung over Gray and Gajeel's shoulders, before being unceremoniously thrown into the back seats of Levy's car, and spending the entire journey home trying not to vomit thanks to Gajeel's reckless driving.

* * *

Natsu awoke the next morning amidst a wave of nausea and cold sweat. He rolled over into the foetal position and groaned before attempting to take stock of his situation.

He was in his own bed. Good.

He was seemingly alone. Probably for the best.

He was still fully dressed. So Gray put him to bed then.

His mind flashed back to Gray and Gajeel tearing him a new one as they dragged his ass from Cana's. He really didn't think he had drunk that much, but figured the exhaustion of the past 48 hours played a large contributing factor in how goddamn awful he felt.

Another memory rose to the surface and he screwed his face up in mortification. He remembered smashing up that Loke guy's car. He hadn't even drunk by that point; the demon in Natsu really had just taken over.

Lucy was really going to chew him out over that one, if she even ever found out.

Natsu rolled on to his back to stare at the ceiling and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He rationalised there was every possibility that Lucy would never actually find out about the incident, seeing as though that would place Loke at another woman's house, which meant the cheating fuck would risk exposing himself.

Natsu sighed, Lucy deserved so much better than a guy who already had a girlfriend using her. She deserved to be someone's whole world.

He should know.

He was stirred from his thoughts by a loud banging on his door, followed by a sweet sing song voice that didn't entirely match up.

"I'm making breakfast, Natsu! Don't stew in a hangover all day and come grab some, yes?" Mira called through the door.

"Urghhhhh," Natsu growled petulantly, "Mira, please!"

"I'll see you in 10 then!" She chirped back, ignoring his plea.

Natsu listened to her pace away from the door and cautiously lifted his body in the bed. The room didn't spin as much as he thought it would. Breakfast probably was the best idea.

After a quick shower and whipping on the freshest clothes he could find, a grey muscle fit t-shirt and his faithful black jeans, Natsu found himself propped on the end of the bar, facing off with a plate of bacon.

"You put it in your mouth and chew it," Gajeel explained to the new president sarcastically.

Natsu just flipped him his middle finger before grabbing a slice and biting down on it aggressively.

The bar was pretty empty this morning, even the majority of the officers deciding to take a long morning in their homes after the whirlwind of the past couple of days. It was just him and Gaj sat at opposite ends of the bar, Gray dozing on one of the beat up old sofas in the back of the room, and Makarov and Met sat in their corner smoking and reading the morning papers.

It was kind of peaceful, and he wished it could stay that way, but Natsu knew he was going to have to gather the gang all together that afternoon to discuss their new hierarchy and game plan.

As well as to organise Igneel's funeral.

He felt a wave of shame wash over him, he hadn't even been to see Igneel's body since they got home. He knew Met would have taken it to their contact at the morgue for safekeeping, but shouldn't he have helped? Was that something you even did? Visit a dead body?

He threw the morsel of bacon left between his fingers back on to the plate and began to massage his temples.

"Have some more coffee, hun," Mira cooed and bent to fill up his mug, a soft, knowing smile on her face.

"Thanks, Mira," Natsu attempted to smile in reply, "Is Laxus not here?"

"Oh he's in the shop, tinkering away on some cars that were bought in this morning," she replied sweetly.

"He's a good man," Natsu nodded, thanking the gods for the fact Laxus was smart enough to keep their front business ticking along despite the recent upheavals.

Mira hummed in agreement and went back to cleaning behind the bar. Natsu carried on zoning out staring at his plate of bacon.

He was so zoned out, that he didn't even register the club door swing open behind him and the furious footsteps that followed, or even the alarmed look on everyone's faces as they turned to see who had entered.

The only thing that woke him from his daze, was how suddenly someone grabbed him by the hair and violently smashed his face down into the hardwood bar. As it happened he heard Mira gasp and Gajeel stand so abruptly his bar stool went flying to the floor.

He spun around growling, instinctively reaching out to aggressively grab whoever the fuck had just assaulted him in his own club before even caring to register who it was. His eyes widened, as he realised the neck he gripped in his hand belonged to no other but Lucy.

"What the fuck did you do?!" She yelled, unperturbed by Natsu's strong clutch.

Natsu quickly let go of her as if he had been burnt, and instead went to rub his aching nose to see blood stain his fingers.

"What do you mean, what the fuck did I do?!" He shouted back, still gobsmacked that she would be the one to hurt him.

"Don't play dumb with me, Natsu. I know it was you!" She snapped taking a step closer into his personal space, glaring up at his eyes.

Natsu attempted to take a step back, but was trapped by the bar.

"If you know that whatever it was, was me, then why are you asking what I did?" He asked exasperated.

"Urrrggghhhh!" Lucy growled before hitting him forcefully on the shoulder, "Can't you just let me have one thing?!"

"Jesus Christ Luce, calm the fuck down! Use your words and _explain_!" Natsu snapped back as the shock of his attack wore off and his instinctive anger started to seep in.

"Ugh! A guy with crazy pink hair, a scar down his face, and a leather biker jacket, smashed in Loke's car windows last night for no apparent reason! Does that description not sound EXACTLY like you?" Lucy screeched through gritted teeth.

Natsu's eyes widened, so Loke did tell her then.

"Look, Luce..." he began.

"No! Don't you, ' _Luce_ ' me, Natsu! How dare you do that?!" The blonde snapped, but her resolve started to waver, she could feel tears try and work their way to her eyes.

"I had my reasons, ok?" Natsu tried to explain calmly as he rubbed at the blood still pouring from his nostrils.

"What? That you couldn't stand to see me happy? That you had to ruin any potential of a _new_ relationship for me too, like you did ours?" The tears began to surface now, but she kept snarling in anger.

Natsu stared at her stunned for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief and letting out a sarcastic laugh.

"What _relationship_ Lucy? You never wanted to call it a relationship!" He barked, turning his back to her and lunging for the napkin holder across the bar to grab a wad of paper towels to stifle his bleeding.

"Don't be so fucking, _goddamn_ , STUPID!" Lucy screamed before pummelling his back over and over again with her tiny fists.

Everyone in the bar was silently watching the dramatic scene unfold. Gray had sat up on the sofa, Makarov and Metallicana had let their smokes burn out, Laxus had come in from the garage to see what the hell was happening, and Mira and Gajeel just stood frozen with mouths agape.

Natsu spun back around and grabbed one of Lucy's wrists with the free hand that wasn't trying to plug his brain from melting out of his nose. The blonde attempted to push him away with her remaining arm, but he just pulled her in closer with one effortless yank. He wiped the rest of the blood away and threw the napkins to his side and grabbed her remaining wrist, pulling her so they were face to face, not caring if he got blood on her. His eyes darted across her face trying to decipher what the fuck she was thinking, and Lucy could see the dangerous darkness creeping into his features. She narrowed her eyes and willed herself to stay strong; she knew he would never hurt her.

Natsu took stock of her steely resolve, and just let out a deep sigh, pulling back slightly.

"You know what? I am not playing your stupid games right now, Lucy," he snapped under his breath, "I now have a club to run, and a funeral to organise, because my fuck damn dad took a _bullet_ to his bastard skull, _remember_?"

Lucy swallowed deeply and released a breath she didn't know she was holding in, "I know that Natsu, but that doesn't give you a free pass to fuck with my life outside of this mess."

There was a long pause, before Natsu let out a cold laugh, and rolled his eyes dramatically, "Poor _princess_ Lucy, not getting her way for once… You realise you fuck with _my_ life every time you walk through that door, right? You fuck with mine every time you bounce in here with your goddamn _beautiful_ smile not wanting anything to do with me. You fuck with mine every time you remind me of how I will never be deserving of you again. You are literally, _fucking_ with mine right now, as you stand there after _assaulting_ me and thinking that that douchebag is any better than I ever will be."

Lucy couldn't help but shiver at the chill in his voice, and the manner in which with every word he spoke he had crept his face closer to hers again. She could feel his breath fan across her lips; she could smell the stale whisky on his breath mixed with the muskiness of his aftershave. They paused their fight as they looked at each other intensely for a moment, both wondering if the other was going to give in and just reach out, to take this passion and relieve the ache they both felt for one another.

The seconds dragged, Natsu’s throat bobbed as Lucy’s eyes flitted to his lips, he inched just slightly closer, but she suddenly snapped her eyes shut and pushed away. Natsu's stern expression faltered slightly, not being able to hide the hurt he felt from laying his cards on the table and her seemingly rejecting them yet again, but then he nodded to himself.

"Whatever," he muttered shakily, before injecting the venom back into his voice, defaulting to dickhead mode in an attempt to shield his pride, "I bet he didn't tell you _where_ he was when his car got smashed in, did he?"

Lucy’s head snapped up to look at Natsu with a pained expression, her face contorting slightly as she slowly realised what the pink haired man was insinuating.

"He was at home," she replied bluntly, as if willing there to be nothing else said about the matter.

"Sure he was," Natsu scoffed.

"Why would he lie, Natsu?" Lucy shook her head uneasily and took another step back from the man in front of her.

"Why the fuck do you _think_ , Luce?" Nastu bit back, frustrated now at how he could see Lucy tumbling over the edge from anger into sadness over this guy.

The blonde just shook her head more, pausing for a second to look at her former lover like he had winded her, then spun on her heels, pushing past Laxus in the doorway and running out of the building before anyone could see her really cry.

Natsu huffed and threw himself back on to his bar stool, before looking round the room at the stunned faces staring back at him.

"What did you _do_ , man?" Gajeel pried.

"Exactly what she said I did," Natsu shrugged, grabbing more napkins to clean himself with and taking a swig of his coffee.

"But, why?!" The pierced giant asked bewildered.

"Ughhhh! Because the stupid cunt left Lucy's house after he was supposedly comforting her about her fucking loss, and drove to another woman's house where I saw him tongue fuck the broad on the porch," Natsu explained frostily.

"So you followed him? From Lucy's house? Is that where you went last night?" Gray had stood up from the couch and lumbered over as he asked.

"If you must know," Natsu replied nonchalantly.

"Fuck damnit son," Metallicana's deep voice sighed from behind him.

Natsu flinched slightly as the man placed a hand on his shoulder and spun him around.

"I don't care if you're our goddamn president now, I still have a duty to your dad to watch over your punk ass," Met began to lecture, "and it would have killed your old man to have seen that interaction from the two of you."

Natsu narrowed his eyes sulkily like a child, "Good job he's already dead then, huh?"

Met slapped the kid in front of him up the back of the head, "You know what I fucking mean. I can't watch this whole will they, won't they schtick a moment longer. When are you going to make it right?"

"Don't you think I've tried that a million times? We will never be the same," Natsu dismissed.

"You don't have to be the fucking same, you have to be _better_ , kid! The next time you see her will be different, I promise. Too much has happened, your differences just seem pretty now. She wants to be with you, she is just too full of pride to come running back. Just... Trust me when I say, when you find someone that has the balls to face you toe to toe like that, they are good for you, don’t give up…" Met explained as he scowled mournfully, sparing a glance at Gajeel, silently apologising to his son for not running after his mother.

Natsu followed Met's stare, to find a confused looking Gajeel rolling his eyes back at them.

"Jesus, fuck. Don't turn into an emotional wreck like my old man, flame brain. Just give Bunny a moment to cool off, and go find her later," Gajeel ordered.

"Fine," was Natsu's only reply, before standing up to head outside and get some air, only to find Laxus still blocking the doorway looking uncharacteristically dumbstruck.

"You feeling alright, man?” Natsu asked, mildly concerned.

"Don’t mind me. Think I'm still just riding a high from watching your ass get whooped by Blondie," Laxus drawled back.

"Dick," Natsu laughed, before pushing past him out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy had dived in her car and raced out of the Draconis club lot at such a stupid speed that cars screeched to a halt and pipped their horns as she turned on to the road. She bore them no mind however, as she gripped at the steering wheel so hard she thought her knuckles were going to pop.

"Get a grip, Lucy!” She scolded herself, and hit the wheel repeatedly in frustration, "You have been on two dates with a man, that you don't even think that you like, and you're upset that he's seeing another girl too? _Really_?!"

She carried on berating herself the whole journey home, maneuvering the roads completely on autopilot as she let her emotions consume her. She knew deep down that Loke wasn’t the reason she was upset, not really.

Eventually, she reached her house and pulled up in the driveway, where she let out a long, exasperated sigh. Instead of moving to get out of the car, she just sat there, separating herself from the harsh reality of the outside world from within the metal cocoon.

After a few moments of staring into nothingness, the blonde banged the back of her head against the car head rest, before reaching for her phone in order to take some decisive action.

Scrolling through her contacts, she found Loke's name, and hovered over the call button.

"Why do I even care?" Lucy whispered dejectedly to herself. Because she was fed up of liars and cheats, and wanted to put this part of her emotional turmoil behind her once and for all, _that's why_.

Bolstering herself up, she nodded in approval at that conclusion, and pressed the call symbol, pulling the phone to her ear. Whether this was just Natsu messing with her, or if she found out that she should cut off ties with Loke before anyone else got hurt, she needed to know the truth.

After a few agonising rings, just when she thought the man wouldn't answer and her bravado would have been for nothing, Loke picked up.

Her stomach vaulted inside.

"Princess?" Loke drawled.

"Hi Loke, I was just ringing to see if you managed to get the car sorted on your insurance?" Lucy muddled as a greeting, referring to a conversation she had had with the man earlier that day.

"Err, yeah, the cops came to take photos of the scene and dusted for prints, which meant the insurance claim was pretty much a no brainer. Thanks for your concern though, princess," he replied calmly.

"Oh, the cops _actually_ came out then, huh? Wasn’t sure they’d think it was serious enough," Lucy winced in reaction to the pang of concern that shot through her at the possibility of the cops banging down the Draconis club doors, _again_.

"Hey, it might not have been a murder, but it was still criminal damage," Loke chuckled dryly.

"True,” Lucy sighed, shaking her head with exasperation, “I just can't believe someone would be psychotic enough to march up to _your_ house unprovoked, and just smash your car for _no reason_."

"The police said it sounded like gang initiation shit, seemed like they thought it was something to do with some bikers, the err… _The Dragons_ , or something," the naive teacher recalled.

"The _Dragons_ , huh?” Lucy’s eyebrow twitched with further irritation. Stupid, _stupid_ Natsu she internally chastised.

“Aren't you scared, knowing that they know where you live?" she went on to ask with feigned concern.

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Loke admitted, "I'm sure they won't bother me again."

"Maybe not, but I can come around and keep you company, if you don’t feel like being alone? I haven't even started my marking with all the stuff that's been happening, but there's a few more days of spring break left and I can lend myself as a witness, y’know, in case anyone returns to the scene of the crim-“

Loke cut her off hastily, sounding slightly panicked, "That won't be necessary, don't worry yourself."

Lucy nodded to herself in her rear view mirror, the tone of his voice had told her all she needed to know.

"Loke," Lucy sighed, “are you seeing anyone else right now?”

There was a garbled reaction on the other end of the phone, and Loke sputtered a range of nonsensical denials.

Lucy couldn’t listen to his attempts to lie, so started speaking over him in an attempt to put an end to both their misery.

"Look,” she mumbled despondently, “I know this was just a casual hook up, you and me, but I’ve been on the receiving end of cheats and liars far too many times to count, I don’t want to be even in part responsible for making anyone else feel hurt. If you don’t want to admit you’re sleeping with other people, then you have something to hide. I’m not here for that, so it’s best we go our own ways.”

"Wait, ok there is someone else, but look- huh?!" Loke grappled with regaining his composure, but it was too late, Lucy couldn’t be bothered to hear his explanation.

"Bye, Loke," she said with determined finality, and hung up the phone, before turning the device off and ramming it in her handbag.

She sat staring at her hands for a second, before blowing air out from her cheeks.

"That poor girl," she muttered to herself, and closed her eyes, placing her head back on the head rest again.

She stayed like that for some time, contemplating the array of feelings running through her.

How in reality, she couldn't give a flying fuck about her love life, not when the man who took her in at 14, her role model and guardian, had died, and how when she should have been supporting her oldest friend through his grief, she had been getting involved in some sort of messy love triangle.

Her guts churned, and she realised that she had been devoting her time and attention to the wrong things these past few days, but recognised she had only been distracting herself from accepting Igneel's passing.

Tears began to fall down Lucy's cheeks.

It was then that the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks: Igneel was truly _gone_.

She had already lost both her parents, she was an _orphan_ for Christ’s sake, but somehow that had never seemed to sting as much as it should have, because Igneel was always there. Even in these distant months, even when she was grumpy and ignorant towards him, he religiously checked in on her in some way or another.

"Fuck," she breathed, hitting the steering wheel in frustration again, "How many people does this life want to rip away from me, huh?"

Now the tears really started to crash down, she finally let them flow freely, and at this point there was no stopping them.

She looked up at her front door and her face contorted; she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t face returning home to be bombarded with memories and sit all by herself.

Wiping the tears away from her puffy cheeks, she took a deep breath, turning the keys in her ignition and putting her car in reverse. She squinted in the rear view mirror in a vain attempt to stop the flood falling from her eyes. Failing to pull herself together, she headed off in the direction of the only other place she could think to go in a situation like this.

* * *

Across town, around the side of Cana’s Bar, Cana’s on again-off again boyfriend, and bar hand, Bacchus, was lowering kegs of beer down into the basement in order for the establishment’s bolshie owner to roll them to the pumps for the taps.

“Come on Bacchus, hurry it up, I’m pretty sure I just saw a Black Widow down here!” Cana whined obtusely from the depths of the hatch in the ground.

“The only venomous man-eater down there is you, baby girl,” Bacchus grumbled as he wrestled with the latest keg, “ugh, every time we do this you forget how heavy these bastards are!”

Cana flipped the man off before helping him lower the metal barrel towards her, once it was safely down in the basement, Bacchus bent down to shoot her a wink and blow her a kiss.

The man wasn’t what you would call typically handsome, but his rugged, sharp features teamed with his stubble, unruly top knot, face tatts, and moth-eared work clothes always had Cana hooked. She couldn’t help it, she loved a dirt-bag, and a dirt-bag with a six-pack and sex drive as high as her own, how could she not keep running back?

Cana struggled to hide the blush on her cheeks that appeared when thinking about her feelings for the man, so quickly spun around into the darkness, rolling the keg away instead of acknowledging him.

Bacchus rolled his eyes at the girl he was hopelessly addicted to as she refused to show her emotions, and stood up to stretch out the inevitable kinks that were going to form in his back.

As he lifted his arms to the sky above his head, the sound of a speeding car screeching to a halt echoed from the front of the bar, followed by a frantic slamming of a car door.

Bacchus’ interest was piqued, so he abandoned his post as Cana’s bitch in order to investigate.

Lumbering towards the front of the building, he heard a desperate knocking on the bar’s front door, causing him to pick up the pace. Once he turned the corner, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Blondie?!” He shouted out as a confused greeting, watching as a hysterical looking Lucy spun to face him.

“Hey Blondie, what’s up with ya?” He asked taking an awkward feeling step towards the crying girl, not having a clue what in the fuck he should do.

“Is Cana here?” Was Lucy’s choked response.

“She’s down in the basement. Hey c’mon, you can tell ol’ Bacchus what’s wrong. Calm down, ok?”

“I just need Cana!” Lucy all but snapped through her tears.

Bacchus nodded in understanding and went to turn to fetch the brunette in question, when he heard her infamous yell and furious footsteps approaching anyway.

“Bacchus you lazy fuck, where the hell did you go?!” Cana demanded as she stomped around the corner of the building towards the two of them, stopping in her tracks when she saw Lucy and the state she was in.

“Lulu?!” She shouted with worry as she ran towards the pair, pausing next to her partner.

“What the fuck did you do to her, Bacchus?” She seethed, smacking the man around the back of the head.

“Me?! I didn’t do shit, she turned up here like this!” Bacchus yelped in defence.

“Bullshit, what did you say?!” Cana yelled back.

Bacchus was about to shriek his frustrated reply, when a guttural sob from Lucy cut the bickering couple off. They both turned to see the girl fall to her knees, and grab at the dusty ground as she struggled to catch her breath through her crying. Cana quickly narrowed her eyes at Bacchus before running over to embrace Lucy on the floor. Bacchus just walked to unlock the bar’s front doors with yet another roll of his eyes.

As Cana gently pulled Lucy back up to her feet, the brunette brushed away some tears from her old friend’s face and tucked a blonde lock behind her ear.

“Deep breaths baby girl, you gonna tell mama what’s wrong?” Cana cooed soothingly.

Lucy sniffled a few times and took her first step towards the bar with Cana’s support. She then choked back another sob, and took a deep breath, steeling herself in order to respond to the prior question.

“Why do I still love him, Cana?” Was all she could croak out, before she broke down all over again.

Cana knew exactly who Lucy was referring to, but had no good answer for the girl. Instead she looked up at Bacchus from the corner of her eye and the couple frowned at each other in concern. Bacchus swung open the bar door and the three of them hobbled inside.

Once inside, Cana gingerly placed Lucy in a seat at one of the tables closest to the bar, before heading over to grab the bottle of top shelf tequila and shot glasses that Bacchus had pulled down for them. The brunette gently nodded her appreciation to the man who gave her a small, tentative smile and a wink in response, before he went on to busy himself with the remaining chores that needed doing before opening.

Returning to the table inhabited by her weeping friend, Cana plonked herself down in the chair opposite Lucy and slid a shot glass in front of her, filling it up with the clear liquor.

Lucy’s tears were finally drying up and she scrunched her nose at the smell of alcohol suddenly wafting her way.

“It’s barely gone 11am, Cana!” The blonde spluttered in surprise.

“Honey, that’s late, I’m surprised there isn’t a queue of drunks banging on the door for their fix already,” Cana chuckled.

“But I’m not a drunk!” Lucy pushed the glass away and recoiled.

Cana sighed and pushed it back, “No baby girl, you’re not. You are however both heartbroken and grieving, and the treatment for such is one and the same.”

Lucy looked up into the warm, brown eyes of the friend she had grown far too distant from recently, and couldn’t help but to crack a small smile and pick up the shot.

“There we go, Lulu! Now bottoms up!” Cana cheered as she clanked their glasses together and threw the liquid back down her throat.

Lucy followed suit before scrunching her face up in disgust, gagging, and slamming the glass back down.

“Keep them coming,” she choked out, waving her hand at the tequila bottle.

“You’re the boss!” Cana agreed, topping them both up, “Now I know shit has really hit the fan these past few days, but are you gonna tell me what’s had you bawling your eyes out at my front door? Not that I’m not happy to see you baby girl.”

“I’m assuming you know the news?” Lucy uttered quietly.

“Let’s just say you aren’t the first wayward soul who has turned up here looking for comfort,” Cana nodded.

Lucy frowned, but nodded back in understanding, “I think I’ve been in denial, about the reality of the situation, and today well, today some shit happened that pushed me over the edge and- and ugh, I’m sorry I came here after not speaking to you for so long, I just didn’t know where else to go. It dawned on me the one person who could make all of it seem ridiculous, is just never coming back.”

“Lu, you’re always welcome here, no matter how long it’s been, ok? I’m sorry, I know Igneel was a great mediator, especially when it came to you and Natsu. I’m assuming it was Natsu that’s got under your skin? You know, the one that you still ‘ _love_ ’?”

Lucy blushed and looked down at the table, before grabbing her second shot and downing it. Cana refilled the glass diligently.

“Baby girl, you know me and you know that I don’t believe in all that, the stars align and everyone has a soul mate bullshit, and you _know_ that I do not support anyone’s toxic ass. Like, I’d bet you’re one of the finest gals in this whole damn country, and you will find someone amazing if you really want someone new. It’s just, you and Natsu, it ain’t that simple to cut off is it? You’ve got a bond that a girl like me could never wrap her head around. Even when you’re bad, the two of you still suit each other down to a fucking tee. Natsu’s dad has been murdered Lucy, it doesn’t excuse whatever the prick has done to you now, but it at least rationalises it,” Cana explained.

“He’s not done anything, Cana. It’s me, _I’m_ the prick this time,” Lucy could feel the tears resurfacing so she buried her head in her hands. Cana sighed and peeled them back so Lucy would be forced to look book at her.

“Lucy, Ig was pretty much your dad too, so the same goes for you. Everyone’s grieving, people do stupid shit. I’m sure whatever it was, it wasn’t that bad,” the brunette attempted to reassure.

Lucy just raised her eyebrow and downed her third shot before admitting, “I think I broke his nose.”

Cana snorted and raised her glass to toast the news, “Well honey, I’m surprised you didn’t do that sooner. I’ll drink to that!”

Lucy groaned and dropped her head so it banged on the table in despair.

“Oh c’mon! He totally deserved at least one punch from you, now fill mama in on the details!” Cana pleaded, visibly excited by whatever gossip was about to be flung her way.

Fuelled by the liquid courage, Lucy went on to tell Cana the whole story. Starting with the morning she found that Natsu and Gray had broken into her house, and ending with her hanging up on Loke on her driveway, all whilst ignoring Cana’s pleas for more dirty details regarding her night with the ginger teacher.

“I’m so proud my baby girl finally got her rocks off with someone else!” Cana cooed, leaning over the table to squeeze Lucy’s cheeks.

“Really? I tell you that whole convoluted tale and that’s the part you focus on the most? I’m losing my mind over here Cana!” Lucy moaned in frustration.

“Ok, ok, sorry, you’re right,” Cana settled back in her chair and poured them yet another shot. By this point Lucy had lost count of how many it had been. 

“So, Natsu defended your honour really?” Cana mulled.

“I’m not sure it’s so knightly when you consider how he previously viciously defiled it,” Lucy sighed, “But yes, I guess. It was probably just a distraction from him having to deal with his responsibilities though.”

“If he was purely seeking distraction then he could have found that at the bottom of an empty bottle in a hooker’s bed,” Cana retorted nonchalantly with a flick of her wrist, causing Lucy to scowl.

“Well it’s true, hun! Smashing up this fella’s car may have been a small distraction, but he wouldn’t have done that for any other girl. Well, maybe for Gray… But you get the picture! He really does still love you despite it all!” Cana proclaimed.

At that moment Bacchus walked back into the bar, “Sorry ladies, it’s time to open up and I’ve got- oh, woah. You’ve downed half that bottle. _Cana,_ you have to work!”

“Nag, nag, nag with these ladies, hey Lucy!” Cana whined, smacking Lucy’s arm across the table and mimicking some boorish caricature of an old man.

“Ok whatever, I’m opening the main porch and then I’ll fix you both up something to eat, but you have to watch the bar!” The black haired man sighed and made his way through the swinging saloon doors to unlock and prop open the main front doors.

Cana rolled her eyes and made a dismissive hand gesture, standing up to take the glasses and the bottle to the bar.

“We don’t need any food, the party is just getting started! You know I can drink your fine ass under the table Bacchus boyo, and Lucy here is cutting loose because it’s spring break and she deserves it! Now crank up the juke box, barkeep!” She shouted after her partner.

The man re-entered the bar shaking his head, “Ok, but I’m not cleaning up the vomit this time!”

* * *

Later that same afternoon, all the officers of Draconis had finally managed to drag themselves to the clubhouse.

Natsu stood behind the bar frowning, as Gajeel relayed the tale of Lucy’s assault to a cackling Cobra.

“Oh man, I can’t believe I missed Sunshine finally flying off the rails like that!” Cobra snickered as he wiped a tear from his eye and pointed up to Natsu’s face, “She got you so good, boss! Look at those shiners!”

Natsu was weighing up whether or not to grab Cobra’s finger and break it, when Erza stormed over from where she had been sat with Makarov.

“Enough! You find it funny that our President was attacked in such a manner?” The redheaded titan snapped.

Natsu crossed his arms smugly, “Thank you, Erza! Someone who has some respect for me and my rank!”

“Respect?” Erza queried, “I’m not saying these lumberheads should be showing you more respect! I’m merely commenting on how appalling the situation is. You’re meant to be our new leader and not only did you let someone sneak up and get the better of you in your own club, you have also let your private life impact on the club’s business!”

“What?! Jeez Erza, so much for being old friends hey! And how has this impacted the club at all anyway?” Natsu lamented.

“Because it is all anyone can talk about, and clearly you are not in the right frame of mind to focus on our plans! And- and well, because now I can’t stop worrying about Lucy!” Erza barked in reply.

“Lucy? I was the one that was hurt!” Natsu whined.

“And she was the one who ran off upset, and you still haven’t gone to find her!”

“Make up your mind, do ya want me to focus on the club plans or Luc-“ Natsu was cut off by Erza’s finger flying up into his face, signalling she had a phone call, as she fished her phone out of her jeans pocket.

“Now who’s not focusing…” Natsu grumbled under his breath.

Erza shot him a death stare that made the man-child instantly straighten his stance, and walked off to take her phone call outside.

“Cana?” Erza spoke into the phone warily.

“Bacchus,” came a gruff reply, “ringing you off Cana’s phone.”

“Is everything ok?” Erza was slightly concerned; Cana hardly ever rang her, let alone her drunk of a partner. 

“No one is hurt, if that’s your worry. Just, well I persuaded Cana to let me call someone to fetch Lucy. Blondie turned up here today all upset, and Cana has well, you know, gone full Cana on her. This is gonna end in way too much vomit, that I am _not_ cleaning up, if someone doesn’t come put her to bed,” Bacchus sighed.

Erza’s eyebrow twitched as she tried to process what she was being told, “It is only early afternoon, and you’re saying Lucy is already that drunk?”

On the other side of the phone the redhead heard Bacchus fumbling about and the music in the background drastically increase in volume as he must have opened a door, followed by shrieking and hollering from someone that sounded suspiciously like Lucy.

“Hi ho silver!” Came the distant voice.

“Bacchus? What the hell is going on?” Erza groaned.

“Yeah, that was the sound of Lucy and Cana riding the bar patrons like horses in a race. Lucy is telling the creeps that the winners get to do body shots off her,” Bacchus griped.

Erza facepalmed, Lucy must have been truly slaughtered for any of that to be reality, and she knew the blonde would be mortified when she sobered up.

“I’ll send someone round in a truck,” Erza sighed.

“Much appreciated,” Bacchus declared, before hanging up.

Erza spun around to face the clubhouse doors and took a deep breath, before storming back into the bar.

She had an idea and it was either going to be terrible, or the best she had ever had.

“Natsu!” She shouted at the pinkette who she found leaning over the bar trying to grab Cobra, _again_.

The President spun around and dropped his arms by his side like a small child waiting to be admonished for fighting at school.

“Grab the keys to the truck, you need to head to Cana’s Bar,” Erza ordered.

“What? Why?” Natsu scowled.

“Because Lucy is waiting for you there, so I suggest you step on it.”

Natsu stared at the woman who was so fondly referred to as Titania, and tried to think of a successful way of refusing her command. He came up flat. Plus, he couldn’t help his own curiosity. Lucy was waiting for him?

With a groan and feigning an over the top sense of annoyance, Natsu stormed off to the bar entrance, “Fine. If you don’t hear anything from me in 48 hours, she has skinned me alive.”

Cobra raised his eyebrows, “48 hours? Why not 24?”

Natsu smirked, “Because if Lucy isn’t planning to kill me, let a man dream that this time tomorrow I’ll only just be waking up in her bed.”

The whole room guffawed and snorted dismissively.

“Natsu! Do not besmirch Lucy like that!” Erza snapped, lunging forward to give the man a smack.

Natsu dodged her attack, and ran out of the bar before she could get a second chance. Erza just stood there in the doorway however, arms folded across her chest, with a smug look on her face as she watched Natsu head to the garage.

“Well this should be interesting,” she smirked.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Natsu found himself pulling up to the kerb outside Cana’s bar.

As he climbed out of the garage’s pickup truck and locked it, he eyed up the rough looking patrons standing outside with their cigarettes. He hoped none of them were soon to be revealed as yet another of Lucy’s lovers. Grimacing, he shook the thought out of his head, Lucy had better taste than that. Himself excluded.

Giving his reflection a quick once over in the truck’s window, he ruffled up his hair and took a deep breath, before spinning on his heels to discover what fate awaited him inside the bar.

As he got closer to the doors, he was surprised at how loud the music was booming out from the inside. Was Cana having a private party or something?

He swung the doors open and squinted as his eyes readjusted to the darkness, so he could take stock of his surroundings. There was a large crowd around the jukebox and the small area Cana deemed the dancefloor, there was a few drunks sprawled, passed out over tables, and there was Bacchus behind the bar polishing glasses.

Not seeing Lucy, or even Cana, anywhere in sight, Natsu stalked over to the bar to interrogate Bacchus.

“Oh brother,” Bacchus grumbled under his breath when his eyes met the club president’s, “You’re the one Erza sent to take her home?”

“Huh? You on about Luce?” Natsu asked confused, “Where is she at?”

Bacchus just shook his head, “Look man, I don’t want any drama in here.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion, but before he could ask what the fuck that was meant to mean, he heard high heeled footsteps marching up behind him. Thankful he actually heard it coming this time, he spun around before another woman could get one up on him.

“Bacchus what the hell? This is who you rang? I said to get one of the girls! Lucy doesn’t want to see him!” Cana snapped under her breath, as if she was trying to hide her voice despite the deafening music that drowned her out.

“Hey, I rang Erza!” Bacchus put his hands up defensively.

“Would you two shut the fuck up and explain what is going on?” Natsu growled out.

Cana opened her mouth to explain but a high pitched shriek followed by shrill, drunken laughter caught all of their attention, and Natsu’s head snapped around towards the crowd on the dancefloor.

“Was that… _Luce_?” Natsu questioned, perplexed.

“Ohhhh, shit!” Cana hissed, lunging forward in an attempt to grab Natsu’s arm but misjudged it and fell over her heels. 

Natsu didn’t notice as the busty brunette crumbled to the floor next to him however, too preoccupied with discovering the source of Lucy’s excitement within the crowd.

As he approached, the biker waded through the swathes of unruly looking men, pushing them aside absentmindedly, until he discovered the spectacle they were all leering at.

Lucy was gyrating to the music, sandwiched between a couple of grim looking young guys in their work overalls, her high-waisted jeans emphasising every tight curve, and her t-shirt tied up into a crop top under breasts, flashing the underneath of her lacy, black bra as she raised her arms to dance to the beat.

Natsu stood stunned for a second, before growling through gritted teeth, “Canaaaaaaaa!”

He became torn between wanting to hunt down the irresponsible brunette, but needing to keep an eye on where the perverts groping Lucy let their hands stray.

The sound of Natsu’s deep growl stopped Lucy in her tracks however, and she spun her head around to see her old lover standing amongst the sea of men she was using to aid herself in the mission to drown her sorrows.

Her eyes widened for a moment, before she wiggled out of the grip of the men surrounding her, and marched over to the pink haired biker. Natsu attempted to soften the look on his face so Lucy couldn’t interpret it as him being annoyed with her; although he didn’t like it, she had every right to dance with whoever she wanted after all.

“Hey Luce, I think Erza sent me here to come pick yo-“ Natsu began to explain gently, desperate to avoid an altercation in front of everyone.

His words died in his throat however, as the blonde before him reached out to grab his face between her hands, and before he could react, crushed her lips against his and started grabbing at his hair.

Natsu’s eyes widened and he panicked, knowing that sober Lucy would not like that this was happening right now. So instead of embracing the kiss and returning the affection like he wanted, he kept his hands by his side and concentrated his efforts on scowling at the men who were now complaining that he had stolen her away. After what felt like an eternity, Natsu worked up the courage to gently push Lucy away. He looked down into his love’s eyes to find a hurt expression on her face in response to his rejection.

Before he could explain himself however, Lucy rammed her hand up into his face as if to tell him to wait, twisted around on her heels, and proceeded to projectile vomit across the dancefloor and the shoes of the men who had previously been taking advantage of her.

Natsu raised his head up to the ceiling and closed his eyes in exasperation at the situation, before lowering himself down to sit behind the woman who had now fallen to her knees on the floor, and began pulling her hair behind her head and rubbing her back.

One of the pervy guys she had got sick on started to shout at her, calling her demeaning names and saying she was disgusting. Normally Natsu would have throat-punched anyone for daring to speak to her like that, but he let it wash over him and shot the man nothing but a warning scowl, as he instead concentrated his efforts on making sure Lucy was ok.

“Oh jeez!” Bacchus cried as he ran over with Cana, “I told you I wasn’t going to clean it up this time!”

Cana rolled her eyes before smirking down at Natsu, “Bet no one’s ever had a reaction like that after kissing you before, hey stud?”

“Cana, you are so dead when Erza finds out you got Lucy in this mess,” Natsu snapped in response.

“She’s in this mess because of you and your two black eyes!” Cana yelled in defence.

Natsu wanted to carry on reprimanding his friend for her lack of responsibility, and maybe get more of an idea as to why Lucy was acting like this, but a whimper from the girl in his arms refocused his intentions.

“I’m taking her home,” Natsu declared, “where’s her stuff?”

Bacchus jogged over to the corner of the bar and grabbed Lucy’s bag, checking all her belongings were in there before handing it over to Natsu. Natsu snatched it out of his hands, hauled it over his shoulder, and proceeded to lift Lucy up off the floor into a bridal style carry.

“Fuck sake, Luce. I’m not sure who you’re gonna be madder at when you come around,” Natsu grumbled under his breath.

Lucy didn’t reply but instead snuggled in closer to the man’s neck, grabbing at the cotton shirt over his chest and bundling it between her fingers. Natsu stepped through the saloon doors held open by Bacchus and ventured out into the afternoon sun.

As he reached the truck, he lowered Lucy to her feet again and balanced her against the side of the vehicle, propping her up with his body weight as she fell forward to cling onto him some more. She opened her legs so his right thigh fell in between hers, and his crotch was pressed up against her hip.

“God Luce, want to make this any harder for me?” He groaned, desperately rummaging for the truck keys in his pocket before his body got any funny ideas.

Once he got the door unlocked, he fireman’s lifted the blonde into the passenger seat and buckled her in. When he was satisfied she was secure, he ran around to the driver’s side, climbed up and started the engine.

He cracked the passenger window down half way and softly spoke, “I know you don’t know which was is up right now, but if you need to be sick, Laxus would like us a whole lot more if you aimed out of there, alright?”

Lucy rolled her head and grumbled something in reply, and Natsu couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Even a beautiful mess,” he sighed.

After an agonisingly slow journey back to Lucy’s house, as Natsu didn’t want to risk any fast manoeuvres that might have elicited another projection of tequila and cheap cocktails, Natsu finally managed to get the two of them to Lucy’s driveway. The woman had completely passed out on the way home, and he had decided that that was probably for the best.

After digging around in her handbag for her keys and unlocking her front door, Natsu lifted Lucy out of the truck and carried her into the house. He took the executive decision to brave carrying her up the stairs, knowing that the closer she could be to the bathroom the happier it would be for all of them. He carefully placed her onto her bed and grabbed a blanket from the chair at her desk to wrap her up in. Lucy snuggled up into the blankets warmth and let out a loud sigh of contentment.

After fetching a glass of water to leave by her side, Natsu stood there staring at her for what was probably an inappropriate amount of time, and bent down to brush the hair out of her face.

As he lowered himself, something caught the corner of his eye. On the floor next to the head of the bed, on the side he knew she always slept on, he found the picture of the two of them; him holding her on his now decimated bike.

His stomach lurched in response, as he allowed himself to consider the fact that she might actually miss him as much as he does her. He snapped his eyes shut and shook the idea out of his head violently.

“Natsu?” A small voice snapped his attention back to the present.

“Luce?” He whispered back quietly.

Lucy reached out and grabbed the hand he had balanced on the side of the bed.

“Still be here when I wake up?” The blonde asked, her drunken, bloodshot eyes drowsy, yet hopeful.

Natsu’s eyes widened but his features softened, reaching up to stroke the woman’s head.

“Of course. I’ll wait right downstairs in case ya need anything,” he reassured warmly.

Lucy snuggled her head into the man’s hand and shut her eyes, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Before Natsu could register what he was doing, he sat up and kissed the top of her blonde hair. He pulled away in a panic, but Lucy didn’t flinch once. He then edged his way out of the room and tiptoed back down the stairs.

Once he entered the living room, he collapsed on to the sofa and let out a long puff of air, dragging his hands through his hair and crossing them behind his head.

“What the fuck am I doing?” He scolded himself, before looking at the time on his phone with a groan: it was only 3.30pm.

He was in for a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update! I got massive writer's block and with the state of the world at the moment, there's been a lot to balance and figure out. I'm furloughed until at least June now, so maybe I will have more time! Hope you're all keeping safe, and hope you enjoy this mammoth chapter. Thank you for all the kudos and lovely comments!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back finally! I will warn, this chapter does contain smut

After five minutes of sitting on Lucy’s couch at a loss with himself, jigging his knees up and down and picking at his fingers, Natsu decided he needed some kind of plan of action.

He quickly fired a text off to Gray informing him to let Erza know that Lucy was fine, and that Gajeel was to be in charge as he most likely wouldn’t be heading back to the club until morning.

Turning his phone off before he had to deal with the barrage of questions that were about to fly his way, he chucked the device on to Lucy’s coffee table and stood up to saunter into her kitchen.

The man pursed his lips and let out a deep breath through his nose, and mindlessly opened the fridge to scour what treasure Lucy was hiding in there.

He went to reach for what looked like a container of leftover noodles, but stopped himself at the last second as memories of Lucy slapping him around the back of the head and shouting at him for always emptying her fridge burst into the forefront of his mind.

“I best not do anything that might piss her off even more when she wakes up, hey,” he grumbled to himself, and settled for just grabbing a beer from the top shelf instead.

Turning on his heels, Natsu headed straight to the back door to sit on the garden veranda. Perching on the arm of one of the wooden benches he had watched Lucy sand down and paint once upon a time, he cracked open the beer and took a big swig, staring stoically at the backyard he used to always relax in.

Sitting there, his mind began to wonder in different directions.

Why did Lucy ask him to stay? Should he have agreed?

More importantly, what the _fuck_ was that kiss at the bar about?

Taking another glug of beer to calm the waves of anxiety rolling around in his stomach, he stood up and stepped off the veranda decking on to the square of grass that made up Lucy’s back yard. Once in the middle of the lawn he frowned at himself as he turned in circles on the spot.

The couple had always said they were going to transform this basic scrap of land into something that resembled the garden Lucy described as having as a child; the garden that her mother tended.

It was to be full of fragrant rose bushes and towering sunflowers, archways covered with trailing climbing plants, herbs in big terracotta pots, and a bird table visible from the kitchen window. Lucy’s ultimate dream had always been to have a cherry tree, but the space just wasn’t big enough.

They got as far as doing the front yard, he remembered fondly, but their lives became too hectic to reach the back. Then the shit infamously hit the fan, and their plans were left forgotten.

Natsu kicked a stone across the lawn in frustration, as he looked at the dilapidated fence panels and weed ridden, overgrown flower beds that lined them.

He felt nothing but shame as he realised how long he had put off helping Lucy out here. During his bid for vice-president he had always feared that he wouldn’t look manly enough in the eyes of the rest of the club if he spent all his free time planting perennials.

Now he realised, that the real men of the club were like Laxus and Gajeel, prioritising time for their partner’s whenever possible.

“I really was just a fucking kid,” Natsu cussed out loud, rubbing the hand that wasn’t tightly gripping his beer through his hair and staring up at the clouds in the sky.

That’s when the idea hit him.

Lucy was going to be passed out for a little while.

He was stuck here with nothing to do, and a million intrusive thoughts to escape in his mind.

Now was the perfect moment to make up for all that lost time, and keep himself busy.

He knew Lucy didn’t have an awful lot of gardening tools, but she did have a tiny outhouse style lockup on the side of her house where she stashed the basics.

Whipping off his club cut and t-shirt, he chucked them up on to the bench on the veranda and decided to get stuck in.

Within half an hour, Natsu had managed to not only get his face covered in dirt, and denim clad knees covered in grass stains, but had sliced his thumb open on a shard of glass sticking out of the soil, and his hair matted with sweat from labouring in the late afternoon sun.

As he slammed a shovel back into the earth to turn over the overgrown flowerbed, the tattoo of the club logo on his back glistened with perspiration as his muscles tensed and fought with the dry ground.

By the time the sun had set, he had tidied up the whole backyard and stacked up most of the green waste into a burn pile.

Sitting on the veranda clutching another of Lucy’s beers from the fridge, Natsu wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm and took a long, well-earned glug of his beverage.

“Not half bad, if I do say so myself,” he quipped dryly, before a loud grumble from his belly interrupted his thought process.

Banging his head against the wall of the house behind him, he groaned, “Fuck me, I need some food. Imma order pizza.”

After fumbling around in the pockets of his club jacket for his wallet, he double checked he had enough cash and headed into the house towards Lucy’s kitchen landline. He stood quietly for a moment to see if he could hear any movement from Lucy upstairs, and when he heard nothing but her not so quiet drunken snores that he would tease her about for the rest of her life, he decided he may as well order two pizzas anyway.

The girl was going to need some grease when she woke up.

After ordering himself a pepperoni with extra jalapenos, and Lucy’s favourite, the blasphemous margherita with pineapple, he cracked himself another beer and decided it was best to go check on the blonde trouble maker.

Creeping up the stairs, he softly padded to her bedroom door and poked his head around it.

Much to his relief, there was no vomit or other bodily fluids to be seen, and although the woman had managed to kick her jeans off to the bottom of the bed, she was largely unchanged from how Natsu had left her, curled around her blanket.

Softly smiling to himself and satisfied that she would be sleeping off her hangover a little longer, he decided he needed to wash the grime from the garden off himself and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

He felt strange as he stripped naked to jump under the stream of water. Flashbacks of having Lucy pressed up against the cubicle tiles, soaking wet in every sense of the term, accosted his mind.

“Get a grip, man,” He groaned at himself under his breath and fiercely shook the thoughts from his head, as he climbed in.

Once under the warm water however, another memory assaulted his entire being, and he had to balance himself against the wall.

This one was not of pleasure, but instead of something much more heinous.

It was of the evening after the first time he had murdered someone for the so-called good of his club.

It was a business that he had long since grown numb to now; witnessing the fear in a man’s eyes, feeling the laceration of flesh, watching blood curdle on the ground.

However that night was his coming of age, his test to see if he had what it takes to really become a Draconis member.

A man of mayhem.

At the time he had sucked it up, held in the vomit, steadied the shakes, learnt how to glaze his eyes like steel, and became what the MC viewed as a real man.

That was until he got back to Lucy’s, where he didn’t even have to utter a word for her to know that something in him had changed.

He was petrified she would shun him, but instead she did what only Lucy could do, and showed him the forgiveness for his sins that only a woman blinded by love was capable of.

Without asking him any questions, she had lead him upstairs, stripped them both down, and guided him into the shower where she washed away his guilt and held him tight, as his body silently racked with sobs and purged itself of his wrongdoing.

Along as Lucy was in his arms, he would never be entirely lost to the darkness. That’s what he told himself that night.

Punching the cold tiles surrounding him, Natsu growled in frustration and began furiously washing his body.

“Well you are lost to it now, you piece of shit!” He hissed to himself.

The shower suddenly felt stifling, and after hastily washing all the suds from his hair and body, he slammed the water off and stepped out to rapidly dry himself down with a towel from the bathroom cupboard.

Pulling back on his boxers and jeans, he rubbed the towel through his pink hair and threw it into the laundry basket before catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

“It doesn’t have to be the same, it just has to be better,” he whispered after a long pause, repeating the words Metallicana had preached at him a fair few hours before.

Natsu couldn’t keep getting stuck on memories of the past.

Lucy needed to know he still loved her for her, and not just because he was chasing some sense of nostalgia. His father needed him to take control, to steer the club and the Dragneel legacy.

He needed to show them both he had grown, and that this time, he was going to be _more_.

Lumbering back down stairs, he fetched the clothes he left outside and pulled his grey tee over his head and hung his cut on one of Lucy’s dining room chairs. He then settled down on to the couch and turned on the tv, awaiting either his pizza or Lucy’s awakening, whichever came first.

When he saw lights flash on to the drive, he rushed to the door to open it before the delivery driver could ring the door bell, grabbed the pizza and handed the guy the cash.

Depositing Lucy’s pizza back into the kitchen, he quickly devoured the majority of his from his spot on the couch and dropped the box with leftovers on to the coffee table.

There he saw a book, an old, brown, hardback book with a golden, embossed title. It appeared to be about astrology and constellations, and if Natsu had to guess, was a copy of a book that Lucy’s mother had shown her when she was young.

Being careful not to let Lucy’s bookmark fall out, he turned off the living room lights bar one small lamp, and lay back onto the couch, where he began to flick through the book’s pages.

Soon enough, a constellation called Draco caught his eye, and he went on to read about the mythology behind this cluster of stars aligned to be a dragon.

Before he knew it, harbouring a full stomach and a distracted mind, he drifted off amongst Lucy’s couch cushions and blankets into his first proper sleep since losing Igneel.

Natsu was awoken by the sound of someone clearing their throat. His eyes snapped open and darted around the dimly lit room as he caught his breath. After a few disorientating seconds he remembered where he was, and turned towards where he thought the noise had come from.

His eyes landed on the doorway that housed the bottom of the stairwell, to find Lucy perched on the third step up, back in her jeans but looking slightly dishevelled despite her obvious efforts to flatten her hair and wipe away her smudged makeup.

“I see you made yourself at home,” she quipped.

“Mmm, yeah -” Natsu groaned, as he stretched himself out, working at the kinks that had formed from falling asleep on the sofa, “how ya feeling?”

Lucy closed her eyes and tugged her lips into a despondent smile, “Like I spent the day with Cana.”

“Yeah, that’ll fuck you up,” Natsu snorted.

The two looked back at each other, and sat in silence as they studied one another’s faces. Natsu could feel Lucy’s stare fixed on the black eyes that had formed upon him, a sad pull at her features developing.

Thinking it best to change the subject until he was more awake, he swung his legs off the sofa to sit up, and ruffled his hair.

“I ordered you a pizza, your favourite, it’s in the kitchen,” he gestured with his head.

Lucy grimaced and shook her head, “I’m not sure I can face that right now. Let me shower first and wash away the vomit and shame from my body at least.”

“You did nothing to be ashamed of, Luce,” Natsu reassured softly.

She caught his eye and a look of uncertainty flickered across her face for a split second; no matter what he said, she had a vague recollection of the taste of his lips.

“I’m pretty sure projectile vomiting into a crowd of men can be added to my list of regrets,” she instead referred to.

Natsu barked out a laugh, “I’d add it to your list of triumphs!”

Lucy just rolled her eyes and stuck her middle finger up at him before wincing as her head spun from her sudden movement.

The corner of Natu’s lips pulled up into a soft smirk as he stood up and closed the gap between them, offering her his hand.

“Get yourself cleaned up and comfy, Luce. I can get myself gone now I know you’re up and at ‘em,” he mulled as he pulled the blonde up from her perch gently, resting a hand on her waist to steady her.

Lucy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, grounding herself within the torrent of nausea and emotion that hit her like a tidal wave, as she breathed in Natsu’s smoky scent.

As she exhaled, she opened her eyes and looked up through her eyelashes to stare into the man’s green gaze. Her eyes then skirted across his face in a closer inspection of the damage she had wrought.

Without thinking, she lifted her hand to softly touch the purple bruising with her fingertips. Natsu closed his eyes in response and pressed his forehead against hers.

“It’s fine Luce, I deserved it. I got too hot headed again and acted without thinking,” he spoke gently, “even if that fuck did have something coming to him.”

“Ughh, I smashed the face of a President of an infamous, outlaw biker gang, Natsu. I think I’m just as guilty for acting without thinking,” Lucy remarked sourly, backing up as she suddenly became conscious of the smell of alcohol and barf on her breath.

Natsu chuckled and shot her a cheeky wink, “Another thing for your list of triumphs.”

Lucy smiled and rolled her eyes at the biker yet again, before her face morphed into something more serious as her stomach rolled with anticipation.

“Stay,” she demanded breathily.

“Huh?” Natsu asked quizzically, finally removing his hand from Lucy’s waist and taking a step back.

Lucy looked down at the floor sheepishly and played with her hands, “Stay. Whilst I shower. I- I think we need to talk.”

Natsu’s eyes widened and his body visibly stiffened, but he nodded in agreement silently.

“I will be quick,” Lucy promised, turning on her heels and scampering up the stairs.

Natsu pursed his lips and ran his hand through his hair, before heading into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Taking a seat at the dining table, he absentmindedly sipped his drink as he stared at the wall, mentally taking stock of the many different well-rehearsed speeches he had ready for this moment, for when Lucy finally wanted to talk.

The president was so deep in thought that he had lost track of time, and before he knew it Lucy had skipped back downstairs and pulled herself up to sit on the counter top behind him. Natsu turned in his chair to face her and rested his elbow on the table to the side of him, jittering his knee up and down in nervous anticipation.

Lucy had changed into a tiny pair of black satin sleep shorts, and a triangular cupped satin black camisole, her towel dried hair plaited to one side, hanging over her shoulder.

Natsu noticeably gulped at how naturally perfect she looked. Lucy shifted awkwardly in her seat in response to his scrutiny.

“I didn’t realise how late it was,” she stated, breaking the tension.

Natsu glanced at the kitchen clock, “Almost 1 am, guess we were both out cold for a while there... Y’know, I really can come back in the morning if you want to get your rest.”

“No!” Lucy stammered hastily, “No, I’m not sure I’ll have the courage to do this in the morning light...”

Natsu frowned, “I ain’t gonna get into shit if you’re just gonna pretend it didn’t happen in the morning, Luce.”

“That’s not what I meant Nat-“ Lucy huffed, but Natsu cut her off, one of his prepared speeches already erupting uncontrollably from his mouth.

“Look, Luce, about earlier, I know you were drunk -“ he began.

Lucy just sighed dramatically and jumped off the counter, taking a step forward to point in the man’s face as he droned on.

“I’m just trying to tell you something Natsu!” she interrupted.

Natsu clamped his mouth shut and looked sheepishly up at the blonde, his eyes going square as he focused on her waggling finger.

“Good, now stay quiet for a sec,” she ordered, before pulling the chair out next to him and taking a seat, where she began to fiddle with her fingers nervously again.

After a long pause, she finally worked up the courage to begin.

“He has been the only one you know,” she mumbled quietly.

Natsu shuffled in his seat uncomfortably, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

“You don’t have to tell me about it, Luce. You’re allowed to live your own life,” he acknowledged, softly.

“Well either way, it was only the once… And well, it wasn’t very good anyway,” she sighed, placing her hands down flat on the table and eyeing the man next to her cautiously.

A lazy smirk worked its way across Natsu’s face slowly, before he leant forward resting his arms on his thighs, looking up at blonde cheekily.

“Ok, well maybe you can tell me about how shit he was. I think I could get behind _that,_ ” he chuckled.

Lucy turned herself to face him and grimaced slightly, before her eyes awkwardly darted back to the table, “I- I don’t think it was him, necessarily.”

Natsu scoffed, “Well I highly doubt it was you!”

At that, Lucy bit her lip gingerly and finally made eye contact with the bristling biker. He sat back up straight and returned her gaze, searching her features for any explanation of where this conversation was heading.

“No. I think- I think it was because…” she trailed off, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Luce?” Natsu pressed, concerned.

“It was because - well it was because, it wasn’t _you_ , Natsu,” she finally admitted, feeling a weight lift off of her.

At this sudden revelation, the room went silent, and the seconds seemed to feel like hours as Lucy waited for Natsu to respond.

The pink haired man just sat there, eyes wide, holding his breath, as he attempted to decipher what she meant.

As time dragged on, Lucy began to feel sick, berating herself for actually admitting her thoughts out loud to the man she believed had probably gotten over her fifty fucks ago. She shrank into herself, and pushed her chair out from the table, readying herself to attempt a dignified exit to her bedroom.

At that, Natsu finally pulled himself together, dived forward, put his hand at the back of her chair to prevent her from moving any further, and stared at her intently, his face inches away from hers.

“What are you saying?” he asked breathily.

Lucy opened her mouth to speak but could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, she scrunched up her face and shook her head, laughing exasperatingly at the whole situation.

“That I miss you Natsu. I know we have become better friends again, but I miss all the parts of you that I only got to have when we were more than that,” she confessed.

“Luce…” he whispered in shock, not knowing what to say, so instead moved his hand to stroke her cheek reassuringly.

Lucy opened her eyes to see the soft look on the man’s face, and shuffled herself so she was fully facing him, their knees touching, and pressed their foreheads together.

“Natsu, please don’t go thinking this means we will be straight back to how it was before, you’re grieving, we have so much shit to straighten out between us, I just needed to-“ Lucy began to explain.

“I get it,” Natsu breathed hoarsely, nodding his head against hers frantically, but reaching up with his remaining hand to hold the other side of her face so she was sandwiched in his grasp.

Lucy placed one of her hands over his, and inhaled deeply and cathartically, snapping her eyes shut as tears threatened to fall at the weight of this reunion.

“You know I never stopped loving you Natsu, that’s why it has all been so messy,” she practically whispered, praying to every deity that her voice didn’t crack and reveal her emotional state.

Natsu knew her too well though, and sensed her turmoil.

“It’s ok,” he reassured, “I _know_ I hurt you Lucy. I _know_ we don’t make any sense, but I also know I fuckin’ _love_ you so much I ache all over. I will do anything to prove to you that I am a sorry shit bag _without_ you.”

Lucy felt herself relax into his touch as he spoke, and suddenly she knew exactly what she needed.

She opened her eyes and smiled softly, “You know what? Just kiss me already, flamebrain.”

Natsu didn’t need to be told twice, so pulled her face to his desperately and firmly pressed his lips against hers, running his hands into her hair, and kissed her with all the pent up passion he had felt over the past year and a half.

Lucy moaned into the embrace, pushing her knees in-between Natsu’s to allow herself to get closer to his body, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They finally got lost in each other’s touch once again, as they planted heated kiss after heated kiss on one another, fully entranced.

“I have missed you so much, Heartfilia” Natsu panted as their mouths fought for dominance against each other.

Lucy smiled into the kiss and shuffled so she could sit in his lap, arms around his shoulders, legs straddling his body.

Natsu shifted his hands to her satin clad waist in order to secure her in position, her hips grazing over the bulge forming in his pants.

“God, no one can compare to this,” he absentmindedly exclaimed under his breath.

However in response to his remark, they both froze for a second, the implication of the man’s words sinking in. Lucy removed her lips from his and sat up straight, pushing back slightly from his shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out quickly, “I’m not thinking of anyone else right now but you, I promise. This feeling here is all I’ve chased. What I mean is, the only person I ever think about, no matter who I’ve been wi- fuck! Why am I bringing this up? I’m sorry, I just- I-“

Natsu’s panicked rambling was cut off by Lucy who placed a finger across his lips. He gulped and pleaded for forgiveness with his eyes, only to notice the blonde on top of him was actually sporting a soft look of contemplation, and an ever so subtle smirk.

“Show me,” she suddenly commanded, breathlessly.

“What?!” the man sputtered.

“Show me the ways in which others couldn’t compare,” she explained sultrily, stepping back off his lap and pulling him up with her by his hand, so they stood facing one another in the middle of the kitchen.

Natsu thought he was going to faint due to combination of his fading panic and the rate at which blood evacuated his brain and flooded to his dick.

“How do I know you aren’t sill wasted, Luce? That you’re not going to skin me when you’ve sobered up?” Natsu worried, suddenly back in the land of logic after his scare, but knowing that after the amount she vomited and slept she couldn’t be feeling much of the alcohol any longer.

“It’s been hours, Natsu,” Lucy said with a roll of her eyes, “just show m-“

Before Lucy could even finish her sentence, Natsu crashed his mouth against hers again.

He walked them backwards as he showered her with harder, deeper kisses, until they collided into the kitchen counter, where he lowered his hands to Lucy’s thighs in order to lift her up on to the wooden surface.

Lucy groaned into the kiss devilishly and went on to wrap her thighs around his waist, slamming his crotch between her legs.

“Fuck,” Natsu breathed, pulling from the kiss ever so slightly, “Luce you don’t have to do this for me.”

“I know. I want you to _prove_ to me how much you have missed me, Dragneel,” Lucy demanded, chasing after his lips.

Natsu couldn’t help but let out a feral growl as he took Lucy’s head with his hands and slammed their mouths back together, pressing the clothed mound that was his crotch against her barely covered core.

Lucy let out a sharp, feminine moan at the contact, which made Natsu want to melt on the spot.

He let his hand follow the length of her plait so he could tear the bobble out of her hair and fully run his hands through the golden locks he loved so much. As he worked at untangling her tresses he continued to grind against her core and leave desperate, wet kisses against her throat. 

Lucy pulled him in closer, her body completely on autopilot as she reintroduced herself to the body she had missed so much. She dug her nails into his shoulder blades, before running her hands to the small of his back and grabbing the bottom hem of his t-shirt, lifting it above his head.

Natsu complied and shook the shirt off, barely registering what she was doing to him, as all he could think about was the million different places on her body he wanted to feel with his tongue again.

Returning his mouth to hers, he slowly lifted his hands towards her chest, and when she made no action to stop him from travelling further, took one of her bountiful breasts into his palm and groped it slowly.

“Natsu,” Lucy hummed in delight, “fuck!”

The man smirked, “Not yet.”

Lucy went to roll her eyes at his cheesiness but was instead left gasping, as with one swift movement Natsu tweaked her nipple and bit down on her collar bone.

As he dragged his mouth down her chest, peppering her skin with kisses and nips of his teeth, Lucy’s eyes began to roll for an entirely different reason.

Once Natsu’s mouth had reached her nipple through the black material of her camisole, he grazed it with his teeth before taking the bud into his mouth through the fabric and giving it a long, hard suck.

As he broke the seal he had made with his lips and the fabric, he languidly licked her now obviously rock hard peak, and slid his hands up to her shoulders, where he hooked his fingers under her spaghetti straps and hastily pulled down the camisole to reveal the flesh underneath.

Lucy’s chest was flushed as her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breaths; she looked down with a sense of smugness at the heated manner in which Natsu gaped at her assets.

Neither of them could believe this was actually happening right now; both knowing that they had a lot to overcome together, but for now wanting to just get lost in this moment.

Lucy went on to reach up to palm the breast Natsu hadn’t yet shown his attention to, but before she could he grabbed her wrist to stop her, and nipped and licked at her rosy pink nipple himself.

Lucy could feel how drenched she was between her legs by this point, and was pretty sure if either of them looked down they would be able to see the satin material of her bed shorts soaked against her skin.

As Natsu kept showering her breasts with attention, she ran her hands through his hair, revelling in how soft it felt to the touch, and dragging her nails across his scalp.

“I want to taste you so bad, Luce,” Natsu groaned between kisses.

Lucy didn’t bother replying with words, too breathless to even try, and instead just began to gently push Natsu’s head lower down her body.

Natsu smiled into her skin as he got the hint, and licked and nipped his way to the woman’s waistband.

Once there, he pulled at the material with his teeth and began to rub his nose against the soft fabric teasingly, until he came to the outskirts of a damp patch.

Pausing for a second before placing a long, gentle kiss on the spot, he looked up at the beauty towering above him.

Lucy’s wavy golden locks fell across her chest and framed her face, her brown eyes peered down at him, ablaze with desire. Her pink lips were swollen from kissing, and her whole body heaved with anticipation. She wriggled under his heated stare and tried to edge her core closer to his face.

Natsu had a whole range of smart-ass and dirty quips bounce around his brain as he took in how desperate the woman was for him, but instead just rose up to his full height once more in order to look his love dead in the eyes.

“There’s no way I can show you much I’ve missed you, how sorry I am, in this one sitting, Luce,” he said soothingly as he tucked his fingers into the back of her shorts and began to massage the top of her butt cheeks and slowly kiss her neck.

“If you’re trying to tease me so I assure you there will be another round of whatever this is, Dragneel, I see right through you,” she jested back, willing herself to sound strong despite how much she just wanted to rip the remainder of her clothes off and ride his face.

“Always with the brains, Heartfillia,” Natsu chuckled against her collarbone before snapping his gaze back to hers, “but I mean it, I’m going to make up for my mistakes a million times more if you’ll let me.”

Before Lucy could reply, Natsu pulled at her bed shorts and tore them down her legs. The woman barely had a chance to lift herself from the counter to aid him in his pursuit, before the garment was whipped off from around her ankles and thrown across the room.

Natsu dropped down to his knees and smiled as he was greeted once more to the sight of Lucy’s naked womanhood, “No panties?”

Lucy shot him a warning glare that he interpreted as to meaning, shut up and get on with it, but she couldn’t hide her innocent blush. He grinned boyishly in response and stifled a smug chortle, choosing instead to kiss from her right knee, up her thigh, until he reached her glistening core.

As gorgeous and well maintained as it always had been, he took in an eyeful of her beauty before something else caught his attention.

He reached out and stroked it with his thumb: the dragon tattoo just below Lucy’s hip.

At this, Lucy smiled softly down at the man and stroked his hair.

“It’s still there,” she confirmed.

“It’s still there,” Natsu nodded, before placing a gentle kiss on the mark, and heading back to his original target.

Using his tongue, Natsu slowly and tantalisingly opened up Lucy’s folds, nipping gently at her clit and dragging himself down to her entrance to lap up her juices. After a few long, languid circuits around her most sensitive area, he inserted his fingers into her core and set to work on driving her wild.

As his fingers pumped inside her, he repeatedly circled and laid his tongue flat against her, sucking her between his lips and nipping her with his teeth. With his free hand he made his way back up to her left breast, and started pulling and tweaking her nipple in tandem to the actions of his mouth.

Lucy was bestowing the air around them with every swear word she could muster, as she pulled at Natsu’s hair and desperately pushed him harder into her crotch.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Natsu I can’t take it, fuck,” she cried.

He carried on his onslaught as he felt her body shaking and her entrance gripping his fingers tighter, and tighter.

With one well timed suck of her clit combined with a squeeze of her nipple, Lucy exploded into ecstasy.

Natsu continued his ministrations as the blonde tremored and came all over his face.

When he was satisfied she was done, but before she could fully collapse into a puddle of goo, Natsu shot up from between her legs and pulled her body against his naked torso, her wet warmth pressed against his lower belly.

Their chests heaved against each other as Lucy looked up at him with a flushed face, and crashed her lips back into his, tasting her essence all over him.

“Fuck,” she mumbled between kisses, reaching down to undo the belt holding up his jeans.

Natsu couldn’t wait any longer, and pulled at the last remaining articles of clothing between them until his pants and boxers were around his ankles and kicked across the kitchen floor.

He was about to pull Lucy off the counter and spin her around when she deftly stopped him.

“Condom?” She breathed.

Natsu paused, and tried to hold back to back the frown that wanted to pull at his features, choosing instead to silently nod.

Long gone were the days of Lucy being on the pill being enough. Although he wanted to feel every inch of her to its fullest, he knew he needed to protect the girl he loved.

And get himself to the clinic ASAP.

After almost tripping over his own feet in haste, Natsu clumsily dived into the inside pocket of his club cut hanging from the chair and pulled out the necessary contraceptive.

Lucy closed her eyes and willed herself to forget about all the reasons he could have that item stashed in there, and instead pulled the condom from his hands and ripped it open with her teeth.

Natsu positioned himself between her legs once more and hissed as he felt the friction of her touch sheath him in the rubber.

“Fuck,” he groaned, before nipping at Lucy’s bottom lip, “now it’s time.”

Lucy smirked and angled herself for him to enter. Both gasped as he slowly pushed his member between her folds and into her entrance, stretching her out as if it were their first time together.

Natsu started slow, placing a long, deep kiss to Lucy’s lips before resting his head on her shoulder, marvelling at how amazing being connected to her again felt.

He pulled his hips back as far as he could before repeatedly thrusting forward, with a snap to his pelvis.

With every jolt, Lucy panted that much harder, until he couldn’t take it anymore.

He pulled out from inside her and pulled the blonde off the counter, before spinning her around, bending her over, and entering her from behind.

Lucy groaned with satisfaction as he buried himself even deeper within her, his hands gripping her hips so tight she was sure to bruise.

After a few hard thrusts, Natsu picked up his pace and pulled Lucy’s body so she was standing directly upright, her head leaning back against his shoulder. From there, he wound his left arm up across her chest and held her firmly by the base of her chin, and his right arm down across her belly, to fix her in place and start rubbing circles on her clit.

As his thumb reached her sensitive nub, Lucy moaned his name in ecstasy once more and he started thrusting upwards into her.

As their hips convulsed he could feel her clenching around him, and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

Lowering his hand from her chin to her chest, he pulled at one of her nipples as he flicked her bundle of nerves and growled with longing.

“Cum for me, Luce,” he purred into her ear as he delivered his final tweaks to her body, and she shook all over as he pushed her over into climax.

As she screamed his name, Natsu thrusted into her one last time, and came with a guttural roar.

Both parties’ legs began to wobble under the strain, and Natsu guided them both to their knees on the floor as they rode out the ends of their ecstasy conjoined together.

Lucy fell forward into Natsu’s arms and he buried his head into the back of her hair.

“Fuck,” was all Lucy could manage to say.

“Fuck,” Natsu agreed breathlessly, leaning around to kiss her cheek.

He pulled out of her slowly and massaged her hips tenderly before pulling off the condom and tying it up, chucking it in general the direction of the trash can.

“Can you stand?” He asked gently.

“I don’t know,” Lucy laughed quietly, peering back to look him in the eyes.

Natsu smiled softly and kissed the corner of her mouth, before groaning as he pulled himself upright, and bending back down to scoop Lucy up in his arms, bridal style.

Her head lolled to rest on his shoulder and she hummed with satisfaction.

“Bed?” He asked.

“Bed,” Lucy agreed, closing her eyes softly, as Natsu took them up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! We finally got there! You'll be pleased to know, I have the next chapter pretty much done too. So expect an update sooner rather than later (or months apart, I am sorry!)
> 
> Thank you for the support x


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, thank you for all the continued love on this fic, I think about it all the time just so rarely get a mo to sort through what I have written so far.
> 
> This is potentially a short update, but I decided to split in half the chapter I have written so far, as think it flows better.
> 
> I always say it, but next update is written so shouldn't be too long!

The next morning, whilst the majority of the club were working in the mechanics shop, Gajeel found himself sat in a booth at the club clutching on to a tar black coffee.

He needed a minute alone to collect his frazzled thoughts, and it was everything he could do not to snap the handle off his mug in frustration.

Natsu had been voted in as the chapter's new President, yet the fucker had yet to step up into any responsibility or take any control.

Sure, a lot of shit had happened, and Gajeel recognised that what Natsu had been through would leave even the most stable of men damaged for life. He got that the man needed some time, but he also knew that unfortunately, time was something they didn't have.

The VP was so deep in thought he didn’t even acknowledge the club doors swinging open and a new presence in the room. It wasn’t until Cobra swung into the opposite side of the booth that he even looked up from his coffee.

"You're looking chipper this morning, iron sack," Cobra quipped dryly.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes and stared at his comrade sceptically.

"And you're actually instigating a conversation. Before 10am. What do you want?" He grilled.

Cobra tried to match the intense stare of the metal studded giant but gave in when he realised it really was too early to have the energy for mind games.

"Same thing as you, I’m guessin’. Some fucking direction. What is that punk ass _Prez_ of ours doing?" Gajeel visibly bristled at Cobra's tone.

Although the man mirrored his own thoughts exactly, he didn’t like the idea that other members of the club were already challenging Natsu's leadership.

Sensing Gajeel's unease, Cobra held his hands up mockingly in a defensive manner.

"I know, I know, he is going through some shit. But aren't we fucking all? He is gonna have to face a lot more shit than this as President. If he wants to get his dick wet to cope with it then that is his business, but ditching out on us right _now_? C'mon, I rate the stupid prick but what the fuck? We haven’t seen him in hours and he still hasn’t called Church," Cobra ranted.

Gajeel eyed his comrade warily, "I'm not sure any of us have watched our dads get their brains blown out in front of us."

Cobra scoffed, "Yeah and that's because some of us never knew our dads cause they were drug addicted pieces of shit who sold us into child labour for more smack. We all got our shit."

Gajeel nodded slowly in acknowledgement and stared off into the distance.

It was true, the club had become a safe haven for a whole host of characters fucked over by society, and Cobra had one of the most messed up stories of anyone he knew, aside from maybe Juvia. Both had been innocent children who ended up trafficked like cattle to serve the drug trade.

Gajeel had found Juvia selling smack on the street and saved her himself, but Cobra had escaped his servitude the hard way.

The brutal way.

So the VP knew there was no point trying to justify Natsu's need for space to someone who was probably more emotionally damaged than the whole chapter put together.

Before either men could fester in their awkward tension any further, the club house doors opened and Erza strode in as if she was on the war path.

"We're turning work down out there and you two are just sat in here having a gossip? What could be so crucial you can't work?!" She snapped.

Cobra rolled his eye and slid out of the booth petulantly and strode towards her with a brooding look on his face.

"Perhaps the future of this goddamn club?" He muttered under his breath as he passed her.

Erza's eye visibly twitched at the statement and her glare quickly turned to Gajeel, as she stuck out her arm and pushed Cobra back towards his seat.

Getting the picture, the man shuffled back into his place and Erza followed so she could stand at the head of the table with her hands on her hips, hovering over the two men.

"Are you two sat in here cussing out Natsu? Like teenage girls jealous of the new head cheerleader?" She asked menacingly.

Before Gajeel could sensibly explain, Cobra fired off with some of his usual snarky bullshit.

"Well now you say it, Gajeel did mention how he thinks we fill out our uniforms better," he shrugged obtusely.

Erza slammed both her hands down on the table and leaned down to glower at them.

Gajeel just let out a deep sigh and braced himself, downing the rest of his coffee, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the incoming onslaught.

"Natsu will lead this club better than any of us ever could. He has lived and breathed this club and our cause since the moment he was out of the womb. There is no one who is not in the Founding 9 that could know more about us, or show more loyalty to us. He _deserves_ this, this is what Igneel had always bought him up to be!" Erza raged.

"I get that, Red, but it has been almost a week now since Igneel was fucking _executed_ , and we have done nothing to defend his honour! Those Alvarez fucks, and anyone else who hate us, will probably be making a move any day now thinking we are weak ass fucking pansies!" Cobra snapped.

Erza opened her mouth to retort but Gajeel finally cut in before the two officers got into an all-out brawl.

"Ok, enough!" He began to mediate, "Erza is right, Natsu can be the only one who will lead us and although he is a fucking thick headed numb skull sometimes, he is the most die-hard, loyal member this club has ever seen. Not to mention an annoyingly good fighter. He was literally bred for this, there is a fire within him that will get us where we need to be, _but_ Cobra is right too. Erza, you know we are running out of time, we need to get moving on some strategy fast. He needs to win over the doubters and put the fear of god in our enemies."

Erza slowly lifted herself up to stand straight, a slight scowl on her face, before playfully pushing Gajeel's head signalling she wanted to shuffle into the booth next to him.

Gajeel slid aside diligently and Erza sat across from Cobra and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Although your execution of the facts worries me, and makes me question your loyalty, I can concede that your fears aren't unwarranted," she agreed.

Cobra stifled a laugh and bent forward towards Erza smugly.

"I know that must have hurt you to say out loud, Red, so I appreciate it. And for the record, I voted for Natsu too y'know. I mean, I sure for shit don't want any more responsibility for myself, if that's what ya thinking. And I guess if I have to admit it, I believe in him just as much as you two. I know I believe in us as a team just as much as you do. I just know, that as the ones that do believe in him, we may have to push him to live up to his potential," Cobra explained, looking slightly uncomfortable being so forthright.

Erza nodded, and Gajeel grunted in agreement.

"Ok so, we give him until lunch to get in contact, then I will start rattling his bones myself," Erza concluded.

"If you can get Starshine to stop riding them long enough for you to rattle them," Cobra jibed.

Gajeel grimaced in response, and Erza tutted, before reaching over the table to smack to the Treasurer upside the head.

* * *

Across town, Lucy awoke to the feeling of someone rolling over in the bed and pulling her into their body.

She nuzzled into the warmth radiating from the other presence and took a long, deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of the one who could make her feel so at home.

Opening her eyes slowly, she was greeted by the sight of a softly snoring Natsu, his tanned, scarred face looking peaceful as he dozed.

The two had managed to get a few hours’ sleep before the morning sun had woken her, but the night had been peppered with Natsu writhing and shouting in his sleep for his father.

The thought of what he was going through yet trying to mask made Lucy feel sick, but the sight of him in that moment made her stomach settle slightly.

She lay there for a little longer before her mind became too flooded with thoughts to be able to sit still.

Although she was concerned about waking the man from his much needed slumber, Lucy knew she had to give herself some space to process the past few hours. So she slowly, delicately pried herself from Natsu’s grasp, and headed to the bathroom.

Pulling on her silk dressing gown she went about her business and then crept downstairs to the kitchen for coffee, scooping up the clothes which had been flung around the room hours before on the way. Reaching the counter, she dumped them all in a pile and gripped the side tightly.

So it happened.

She gave into her deepest wants.

She gave into Natsu.

She couldn't deny that it made her stomach flutter when she thought about having his skin against hers again, about the way he looked at her, the way he moved her body.

She revelled in how relieved she felt by finally going with her gut and admitting her feelings to him.

The turmoil inside had been eating her up, and at least there was no more lying to herself.

However, she could not escape the fear that was creeping up inside her the more she woke up, crawling from the back of her head and radiating across her body.

Lucy knew she was a strong woman, a woman that the teenage version of herself would be proud of.

That was why she felt guilty, guilty for admitting she couldn’t help but still love the man who had once hurt her. She felt that for the sake of womankind, she should be telling him he still was not worthy of her.

However, the truth was, it just wasn’t so black and white.

Lucy loved Natsu.

It ran deeper than she knew how to cleanse herself of.

As her head span with this series of overwhelming thoughts, the urge for even _more_ space between her and the reality of the past few days grew.

Pushing herself from the counter she turned to run out of the kitchen, when she caught a glance out of the window at her back yard, and had to look twice. Eyebrows drawn in confusion, she grasped at the robe across her chest with a tight fist and tiptoed towards the view.

The garden, was tidy? Was this Natsu's doing?

In a haze of disbelief, she slowly walked to her back door and warily unlocked it, as if by moving too fast the garden would disappear entirely. Cracking it open, she peaked round to see it still existed, and was indeed, tidy. Stepping out onto her decked veranda, a small smile crept onto her face.

The whirring thoughts that had been all but suffocating her moments before disappeared. Her concerns melted away.

"That hopeless idiot," she laughed quietly to herself, "he finally fixed up the back yard."

Shaking her head, she propped herself up against an upward beam, and wrapped her arms around herself.

Soaking in the soft morning sun, she grounded herself once again.

No matter what last night meant, she had been true to herself, and Natsu’s gesture suggested that it hadn’t all just been a mistake of clouded judgement.

They could work this out.

Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder and she was pulled from her thoughts with a jolt.

"Hey… Hey, sorry, didn't mean to make you jump, Luce," Natsu's voice cooed softly from behind her.

Smiling to herself, she let herself fall back against his body, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, propping his head on her shoulder.

After a quiet moment, she turned in his grasp to look up at the man deeply in the eyes.

Natsu looked back down at her questioningly, before catching a nod of her head that gestured towards the garden.

He went slightly red, and lifted an arm to rub the back of his neck.

“Oh, yeah… I figured it was the least I could do, get on top of it, y’know?” He explained sheepishly.

“I really appreciate it, Natsu,” Lucy said softly.

Natsu just curled his lips into an awkward half smile, and nodded.

“Any time,” he replied.

“I’m sorry if I woke you,” Lucy grimaced, stepping back slightly.

"Well, I could hear you overthinking from upstairs," he jested gently.

"You know me too well," was all Lucy could think to reply, as she stared at his torso dumbfounded, noting that although he must have grabbed his boxers off the kitchen side, he was still pretty much naked before her.

"I meant everything I said last night, you know that right?" He asked calmly.

Lucy slowly raised her face to look him in the eyes and stared sadly for a moment.

"I really cannot take that pain again Natsu," she confessed, “if whatever we are doing right now extends beyond you leaving this house today, then I need you to understand that I can’t help but love you, and although let’s not rush anything, don’t break me a second time either.”

Natsu watched her for a second, sorrow etched on his features as he soaked in the pain that still existed because of him, and then pulled the vulnerable woman before him in to his chest in a tight embrace, stroking the back of her hair.

"Whatever happens between us is on your terms, Luce. I love you and as long as I can be in your life I will do whatever you want from me," Natsu reassured.

Lucy bit her lip and nodded into his chest, before pulling back to look at him again with a despondent smile.

"I want this to be healthy though. Not riddled with paranoia and fear. That shit becomes toxic and controlling fast. Just... we will take this as it comes," she mulled, reaching up to stroke his face, "but I want you to be honest with me, about all of it. No lies between us. Tell me about the club, your runs, your plans. Tell me about your pain and your worries. Just, be honest? Then I know where I stand."

"You wanna know it all?" Natsu frowned, "What if it is safer for you not to know?"

"Give me the choice. Don't decide for me," Lucy instructed, "when I know we can be open and rational with each other, I will know not to fear what I don't know."

Natsu bit his lip but nodded in agreement, "Fine."

"I mean, I don't want you to be texting me every minute of the day, or to not live your life and go out with the guys, this girl gotta live her own life too," she laughed, "let's just… Be happy."

"We can be happy," Natsu laughed, before bending down to take Lucy's lips with his own and nuzzling her face with his nose.

Lucy smiled into his affections, and felt her body relax.

"Now how about, you head back to bed and I will bring the coffee up after you?" Natsu offered smugly, stepping aside and motioning with his arms for her to head back in the house.

Lucy mocked surprise at the gesture, and then grinned cheekily.

"Try not to burn the kitchen down whilst you're at it," she laughed, stepping passed him and grabbing her handbag once she was back inside in order to check her phone as she headed back upstairs.

Once back in bed, she pulled the device out of her bag and turned it back on, just to check she hadn’t missed anything important, and to send Cana a text reassuring the bastard brunette that she was still alive.

As she watched the screen load back on, she was surprised to see her phone almost crash from loading the many missed call notifications that popped up. When she finally could, she clicked on the telephone icon to see who the hell had bombarded her so much, assuming it was probably from a drunk Cana.

However her stomach dropped as she read the name.

Loke.

The most recent missed call had only been half an hour ago, and was accompanied by a voicemail.

"Hey Lucy, I'm sorry I know I'm coming across as psycho but we really need to talk. I'm heading over to yours, you can refuse to open the door, but I've got to try. See you soon."

Lucy dropped the phone onto her bedding with dread. 

"You've got to be fucking _kidding_ me!" She hissed under her breath.

She took a deep breath and comprised her thoughts. She would just have to be open with Natsu and ask him to stay out of it, that she would handle it.

In all honesty she was less worried about Natsu, knowing he would be good if she made him promise, but more panicked about keeping him hidden without hurting his feelings, as she was unsure how Loke would react if he saw the vandal who destroyed his car in her home.

She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of Natsu stepping slowly up the stairs, but as she practiced what was she was going to tell him when he entered the room, the sound of a knock at her front door echoed ominously throughout the house.

"Shit, that's probably Gray or someone lookin' for me," Natsu groaned up the stairs to her, "don't worry I'll get it!"

Lucy's eyes widened as she pounced forward across her bed towards her bedroom door, tripping over herself as she got tangled in her sheets.

"Ahhhh, _wait_! No, Natsu!" She garbled as she attempted to get back on her feet, frustrated at how she couldn’t seem to move fast enough.

She heard no response from the man, so vaulted herself out on to her landing and towards her staircase as quickly as she could.

“Natsu! Wait a sec!" She shouted after him as she pounded down the stairs as hastily as she could without falling.

"Huh?" She heard the man call back flippantly, and she swore under her breath.

By the time she had reached her front room, she saw a puzzled looking Natsu almost at the front door, poised as if he was ready to open it.

Another round of knocks came, more frantic this time.

"I don't think it is anyone from the club," Lucy explained breathlessly, tightening her dressing gown around herself and stepping towards the noise.

Natsu cocked his eyebrow in confusion and went to step aside to let her past when the voice from the other side of the door stopped him in his tracks.

"Lucy! Lucy _please_ , let me explain!"

Lucy paled, as she saw the realisation dawn on Natsu's face, and his features scrunch up in anger.

"What is _he_ doing here?!" He snarled, looking towards the closed door.

"I have no idea, I'll speak to him, just stay there," Lucy explained, never being more thankful for a wooden barrier in her life.

Natsu eyed her warily but silently nodded and stepped aside slowly, knowing this was her business and he had already overstepped with the car incident.

"Lucy come on! I just need to tell you, I broke up with her! I know I don't deserve it but please, after I have done that for you, at least hear me out, don't be a bitch!" Came Loke's exasperated voice from outside once more.

At the last remark, Lucy felt her blood boil and fists tighten by her side.

She readied herself to unleash all hell on the man, but before she could, she felt herself being gently, yet swiftly, pushed aside.

Suddenly the morning light flooded in through the door way, a silhouette of a seething Natsu all she could see.

"What the _fuck_ did you just call her?!" Came Natsu's snarl, as he stepped out of the house.

A stunned Loke stood blinking dumbly before nearly falling off the door step in surprise. Lucy, knowing she had no hope of corralling Natsu back into the house at this point, watched from the shadows as recognition flooded across Loke's face.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?!" He all but screeched at Natsu.

Natsu scoffed and shook his head angrily, before taking yet another step into the ginger's personal space.

"I could be askin' you the same fuck, damn thing buddy. Now, answer me, what _the fuck_ did you just call her?" He demanded forcefully.

"Where is Lucy?" Loke asked, trying to peer his head around the man careening over him to call inside the house.

"LUCY!" He called, "Lucy are you in there, are you ok?!"

The blonde didn’t know what to say for the best, and when she didn’t instantly reply or reveal herself, the look on Loke's face shifted from concern to anger.

Natsu stood firm glaring down from the step at the unwelcome visitor.

"What did you do with her?!" Loke spat, trying to mount all his courage to confront the thug in front of him.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he felt overcome with rage at the assertion that he would harm Lucy. He grabbed Loke by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close so he could stare directly into his eyes with a seething glare.

"What me and Lucy do together ain’t any of your business buddy, but I would have thought a smart teacher type like you could have figured it out by now,” he sneered.

Lucy rolled her eyes from inside at Natsu’s lude insinuation, and watched as Loke's eyes narrowed with the realisation of what he had walked in on, glancing down to Natsu’s barely clad form.

"Now you get it," Natsu smirked sadistically before pulling the man even closer to his face so their noses were practically touching and Loke couldn't avoid his gaze.

"Now, you still haven't answered my question. Repeat what you called her. _Please_ , give me an excuse to fucking _hit_ you," Natsu snarled.

At this, Lucy knew she had to step in. Loke looked like he was going to soil himself and she knew if Natsu assaulted the teacher, it would not end well for either Loke's face or Natsu's rap sheet.

"Ok, enough! Enough!" She hollered, shimmying passed Natsu and pushing the two men apart like she would kids in the corridors at school, "This is enough dick swinging for one morning!"

Natsu begrudgingly let go of Loke's collar, sending him careening backwards with the force. Loke managed to catch himself from falling, and straightened out his shirt, trying to regain any modicum of composure he could.

"What the fuck is going on, Lucy?" Loke finally asked, exasperated.

"Well, I think Natsu here was trying to ask you why the fuck you would start calling _me_ names, when you're the cheating arsehole that used me as a side piece behind your poor girlfriend's back!" Lucy snapped, turning to stand in front of a now smirking Natsu.

The president was for once, not on the receiving end of a Lucy rant, and he for one was going to enjoy watching her turn Loke into even more of a blundering fool than he already was.

"So _this_ is Natsu, huh?" Loke enquired, remembering the way Lucy used that name in the diner days prior.

"Is that why _Natsu_ here came to smash up my car? Because what, on weekends you’re a secret _biker slut_?" He spat.

Lucy’s eyes widened in shock, and instinctively she raised her arms to block the raging inferno that was behind her in the form of Natsu from diving to try and hit the other man once more.

"Oh fuck _you_ , Loke!" Lucy finally snapped, flying towards the man in a rage when she had felt Natsu back off.

Pointing her finger into his chest, she saw red and words just fell from her lips in a rage. 

"So what if I am a biker slut? Better than an average-at-best-in-the-sack _basic_ slut!"

Both men raised their eyebrows at that one, even Lucy knew it wasn't the best retort she could have come up with, but honestly, the past week had been a lot and she did not have the energy to care about a battle of wits.

"This is ridiculous," Loke eventually laughed in disbelief.

Lucy stepped back and nodded, "You can say that again."

All three supposed adults stood in silence for a moment whilst trying to figure out the next move.

It was Lucy who stepped up to the plate first.

"Just, get gone Loke. Stay away, ok? I'm not interested in your excuses. I'm not interested in _you._ Thank you for the fun we had, but it's best if we go back to being colleagues who ignore each other, ok?" Lucy explained.

Loke slowly nodded even though he was burning to ask more questions, and eyed Natsu up and down.

"What's to stop me pressing charges now I know who you are?" Loke asked with narrow eyes.

Natsu straightened himself up to respond but Lucy got there before him.

"Oh, for God’s sake. Trust me when I say, it really will not be worth the hassle that will come your way, Loke. Natsu will send you the money for the car. And then we will be done with all of this," Lucy said with finality.

She knew Natsu would be bristling behind her at the thought of paying for the damage he wrought, but she also knew he would do the right thing if it kept her happy.

"Fine," Loke nodded, stepping backwards slowly.

"Good," Lucy said relieved, turning to push the nearly naked man behind her back into the house.

As she did so, she looked into Natsu's eyes and felt awash with emotion and nostalgia.

Natsu wore his heart on his sleeve, he could never hide his emotions all that well, and he forever poured everything he had into protecting his friends and family. This was not the first time he had defended her honour, and his hot-headedness was his rawest way of expressing love.

They were crazy, they shouldn’t make sense, but even in amongst this madness, she could not deny, nothing felt more right.

Before she could register her own actions, she turned back to Loke and called after him.

"And for the record, Loke. I'm not just any _biker slut_. I'm the President's old lady!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy and not getting too "samey" - more plot to come!


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